Gods and Monsters
by gogogeisha
Summary: John Shepard had a little sister, this little sister was not so different than her older brother. These similarities are what beget her downfall. A story of love, heartbreak and endurance. Shepard (F) x Garrus, Garrus x Tali (for a bit), Shepard (M) x Liara. Rated M for implied sexual situations, violence and gore.
1. Chapter 1

**_Hey all! New story, this one is going to be updated irregularly (just as the rest are). This is something that's been stuck in my head since my most recent playthrough. A nice little sibling shep story with the standard romance and drama! I hope you enjoy and please review (either positive or negative, I'll never know what's working and what isn't without the critiques!). _**

**_Btw, anyone looking to become a beta?_**

_Her breath was mixing with his as her lips and tongue teased his mandible creating an intoxicating flavor and scent mixture. He was out of his head with need for her, a need that he knew she would soon sate. Her dexterous fingers were simultaneously playing over the base of his fringe and the indent of his waist. _

_Her skillful legs had him pinned on the sides as she positioned herself just right. She smiled while making eye contact with him, "I love you…". _

_The returning words wouldn't come out, they never came out. He struggled to shout his love for her, his future bondmate, his world. As she began to descend over him he reached for her in desperation…_

Garrus woke choking back a sob and a shout. It was an all too familiar custom when he would dream of her.

Looking over at the sleeping quarian next to him, Garrus expertly made sure she was still asleep and had not been woken by his startled behavior. She was, thank the Spirits. He hated having to see that small look of betrayal and hurt when she realized he still dreamed of Aeryn.

Garrus and Tali had an understanding in regards to their relationship. An understanding that Garrus felt was shifting and cementing the more they saw each other… Well, it wasn't really anything he could deny he wasn't aware of since Tali had practically moved in to his cabin.

Thankfully John, Commander Shepard of the Normandy SR2, never mentioned the fact that Garrus and Tali had entered into a sexual relationship shortly after Aeryn had died. Garrus had been inconsolable for weeks. Inconsolable by anything except for the liquor. Tali had taken a drunken opportunity which ended with them in the same bed.

No, that wasn't fair to Tali. Garrus had willingly accepted the comfort Tali was offering. Garrus knew that, but whenever he thought of Aeryn and her suspicion that Tali had harbored feelings for Garrus that he would think of the evening in any sort of negative light.

Garrus removed himself from the bed and made his way from the XO cabin into the lounge. He needed a drink, as he always did whenever he dreamt of Aeryn.

Spirits he missed her. No amount of sex, relationships and booze were going to remove the hole from his chest – at least not any time soon.

It had been a year since the end and he had been trying to move on for almost as long. Grief did funny things to someone when they feel their world just ended.

He still remembered the first day he saw her, she had walked onto the bridge as if she owned the place. Walking wasn't even a proper term for how she moved_. She sauntered, lazily, everywhere. She was an expert at blending in and making sure that no one thought anything of her presence. _

_It hadn't worked on him. Garrus had been painfully aware of every move she made and every look she gave. The first time he had met the little sister of his best friend and Commander he would have sworn he had a human fetish. His world centered on the average height Alliance Officer who was busy trying to be as inconspicuous as possible as Joker railed on and on about her exploits and the rumors surrounding her. _

_"She's an N7 Corsair! They're the black ops of the black ops! I've even heard that she's some sort of assassin for the Alliance. They drop her off, alone, in dangerous territories and expect her to get whatever it is that they want without being detected. She's a Shepard all right! Just like the Commander, she is given the bullshit of the bullshit assignments and expected – and succeeds – to get the mission done. Oh, and she's also supposed to be something of a hottie."_

_Garrus was staring right at the woman in question as he questioned the pilot, "Hottie?" He quirked his mandible in a smirk and he hoped she knew how to read turians so that he gesture wouldn't have the opposite effect on her than he intended. _

_Hell, he was intending to be suave and… what was the human word? Debonair? _

_"Yeah, Garrus, a hottie! H-O-T-T-I-E! Sexy, fit, trim, someone who you would want to chain to your bed for hours… and then unchain just to feel the sweet, sweet punishment."_

_Her face had gone from intrigued to a mixture of embarrassed and amused. She was smiling but her face had taken on a red tone. The red, he remembered, meant that she was embarrassed. She decided at that moment to end their fun and cleared her throat._

_"What sort of sweet punishment would you expect a chained women to dish out, Flight Lieutenant?"_

_Garrus had never witnessed the pilot move as fast as he did at that moment. Practically throwing himself out of his chair and in to attention as his eyes looked in horror to the object of his earlier musings._

_"I meant no offense ma'am, I'm sorry ma'am." He looked like he was going to say more but stopped himself. He was probably too busy cursing himself._

_Garrus was having trouble controlling his laughter. She was definitely related to the Commander, she had this half smirk on her lips that John had always had when he was "fucking" with someone. He would bet a year of his paycheck to say that she didn't give a pyjack's ass that Joker had been talking about her. _

_"At ease, Joker isn't it? No harm, no foul. Besides, it's nice to see that all of my hard work on my reputation isn't going to waste. You might want to be aware of your surroundings in the future however…"_

_Joker instantly deflated and delicately threw himself back in to his chair. He nodded his acceptance of her advice while he tried to lower his blood pressure and his heart rate back down to normal ranges. _

_Garrus watched as the younger Shepard winked at him and then made her way further into the ship. She had not announced her presence and John was obviously unaware that his sister had boarded ahead of schedule. This was probably her plan. _

_Garrus found his eyes cementing on her supportive waist and then down to her supple rump. He'd known asari that would kill for a figure like hers. He could tell, even through her uniform, that she was well toned. All the time spent around humans was starting to show if he were able to deduce something like that at this stage. _

_He merely chuckled and shook his head as he turned away from her and back to Joker. This mission just got a whole lot more interesting._

And interesting it had certainly made it. If someone had told him even a year before the Reaper invasion had started that he would be betrothed to John Shepard's younger sister he would have laughed them right out of the room. But within a weeks they were sharing a bed regularly and by the time they were heading back to Earth, they had agreed to spend the rest of their lives together.

They had fit so perfectly in so many ways. She was his other half, he had known it the first time he took her out on a date. He had never felt such a connection with anyone else before and he certainly hadn't expected that connection to be with a human. He wouldn't have changed a moment of it… Except at the end.

He would have kept her with him, told her she shouldn't fly the fighter that was going to keep the reaper drones away from the Normandy. She had been providing air cover for the ground team. She had been watching his and John's backs.

After their failed attempt to join John at the beam, and after a vehicle had almost taken his head off, Garrus and Javik had returned to the Normandy while John continued on his own. Garrus had been wounded to the point of requiring immediate medical attention and had been ushered off to the med bay.

He remembered asking EDI to relay the com traffic to the med bay so he could keep tabs on his best friend. He hadn't expected to hear the last moments of his lover.

Hearing her state that she was hit, hearing her cry as something knocked her escape pod off of trajectory and plummeting uncontrolled towards the planet below. Then the static, the nothing.

He remembered the cold and desperate feeling as he felt himself move off of the exam table. He had to save her, he had to get to her. They had just been half-joking about adopting krogan babies. She couldn't be gone!

_Chakwas had injected him with a sedative the moment he began to struggle for footing and he was so distracted that he didn't even register the prick of the needle. His world went off kilter in more than one way as the shadows closed in around him. A strangled, broken keen left his subvocals as he finally succumbed to the drugs. _

Garrus downed the harsh liquor he had poured himself… And then moved on to the bottle. Getting lost in memory never bode well for the rest of Garrus' day. He would need to avoid Tali in order for her to not suspect and therefore get upset… and he would have to avoid John out of shame for how doted he still was on the man's dead sister.

He and John had never talked of Aeryn after her death. John had known that they planned to wed, he knew that they were serious… But after her initial death and the finding of John's bruised and broken body. John's recovery and the rebuilding of the galactic economy and community… And then Garrus and Tali's budding… thing… Garrus just felt that he had secluded himself from John's advice and help out of necessity and possibly some guilt for moving on, or trying to.

Garrus downed another guzzle before mustering himself up. He needed to shower the booze off and get ready for another mission and another day.

**** 11 Months Earlier ****

The team had found it. The escape pod had been in pristine condition. All of the preservation protocols had taken affect and according to the on board computer, the pilot was alive.

Injured, but alive and in stasis.

Dr. Tolorin smirked to himself as they lifted the pod out of the rain forest muck and on to the transport.

His own Shepard. His own chance to make the perfect soldier and assassin. She had all the same genes, all the same ability to be genetically manipulated as her brother.

The illusive man may not have wanted to change the original Shepard too much, but he had plans. He had plans for the younger sibling.


	2. Chapter 2

They spent months rehabilitating her. She had a torso length wound that ran from her collar bone to her opposite hip received by her flight ending attack that her pod's stasis and medical systems hadn't done a whole lot to repair. The system had been overwhelmed by keeping her alive vs. healing her.

The doctors had to repair that wound first. It had festered enough time to leave a scar. She had never minded scars, but this one was somewhat symbolic to the death of her old life into this… Half-life that she was living now.

They constantly tried to beat her down emotionally and physically which hadn't worked… at first… But after months of hearing how they were the only ones who attempted to find her escape pod, how her brother and Garrus had moved on… How she was essentially theirs to do with as they will… Well, it was grating on her and she found herself thinking they were right more often than she knew she should.

She didn't believe any of it, not at first at least. But the longer she was there, the more she had to hear it the more it started to make sense in a twisted way. The fact that it was starting to make sense angered her even more.

After the healing of her main wound the doctors went to work on her alterations. Biotic powers upped and a new amp put in. She had always had some minor biotics, but this pharmaceutical regime they put her on had exploded her abilities. To the point of pain and no control. The control would not have been so bad if they had someone who actually had biotics able to teach her. But they didn't. Not yet at least, the doctors had touted on about how someone impressive was coming to instruct and help her.

They also updated her optics, adding synthetics to her irises to increase her night vision and allow her to see at greater distances. Her muscles and bones were reinforced and altered to allow for quicker movement, higher leaps, and surviving falls from greater heights.

They worked her mercilessly in simulations and battle tactics. She was paired, unarmed, against vorcha and krogan.

They killed her much of the time and never quickly.

They medical team would simply recover her and work hard at putting her back together. Some were the same people that had worked on her brother, or so they bragged. They were now pseudo-experts and bringing the dead back to life. She wished that just once she would be beyond their repair.

The purpose of the exercises, as she understood it, was that she was supposed to become a ghost, move silently towards her target and assassinate them.

It wasn't that she didn't understand or couldn't do the tasks presented to her, it was simply that she didn't want to do it. She didn't want to please these doctors that had put her through so many painful alterations and then killed her repeatedly in an effort to get her to do what they want.

She had never been one to cow down to anyone who exerted pressure on her, it was what had made her such a good agent for the Alliance.

No, she wouldn't do what these people wanted of her. They had taken her from her death and from any possibility of having a normal life. Who would want some Frankenstein experiment?

The buzzer rang, it was time again for more torture masked as training.

She moved herself up from her cot and made her way out the door, all the while wondering what new games they had in store for her today.

* * *

She was moved into a stark white room with a chair and a vid screen. All the rooms were stark white but few had vid screens.

She was obviously meant to sit in the chair, so she didn't. Usually she would be forced to sit in one way or another and she would always gain some measure of satisfaction knowing that they had to work at getting her to do what they wanted.

It was her one pleasure in this white walled hell.

Dr. Tolorin was the only one in the room. She knew there would be other measures to keep her in line if she tried to assault him, she had learned that lesson once already. He started with the standard pleasantries… That she was being difficult for no reason, that they had rescued her and improved upon her, that she had nothing else waiting for her.

It always went back to the "no one else waiting for her". She didn't believe him and he knew it… So he simply turned on the vid screen.

It was a news vid. Some special going over the crew of the Normandy on shore leave after beating the reapers…

She watched, as she knew she shouldn't because he wanted her to. The fact that he was showing her meant that she wasn't going to enjoy what she saw.

Garrus was alone at a table, drinking heavily. Her heart broke for him and how miserable he looked. Then someone came up next to him and touched his mandible. A three fingered, gloved hand. _Tali_. They chatted for a bit and then left together, forehead touching repeatedly as they moved out of the bar.

Not completely damming, but the vid continues to show moments of them together. It was apparently a special on the Normandy romances. It went over her brother and Liara and was seconded by Garrus and Tali.

They had started dating only a few weeks after she had died.

That thought, the thought that she grieved over their future while he was wetting his whistle elsewhere was the nail in the proverbial coffin. Why the hell was she putting up with all of this?

In one swift movement, she swung her fist towards the vid screen, shattering the glass. At the same time she utilized her biotics to move the chair towards the door in an attempt to block it. She also took a swipe at the good doctor, not to kill him but to render him useless for a few minutes.

She knew they were taping this. They taped everything.

She bent over and picked up a shard of glass as the alarms went off around her. Staring straight at the camera lens above her, she drew the glass over her throat.

_Deep, sever as much as possible. _

She hardly felt the pain. She felt the warmth rush down the front of her shirt. She stared at the camera as long as possible, listening to the doctor shout orders as he regained consciousness.

She felt the cold take her and she felt the ground rush up to meet her.

She knew that she wouldn't remain dead. She knew that they would revive her. Inflicting the self-mutilation was more of a statement than anything. Truth be told, she didn't feel any better. It was a pathetic attempt to regain control of something, and she understood that. She was lashing out in the only way she could.

The blackness came and went. She was laying on her cot again, her throat swaddled in bandages and moist with medigel and blood.

She was surprised to see that they hadn't fixed her completely. The doctor probably thought that leaving her with a scar would be punishment… Or he was leaving her scar as her one trophy, even if he didn't realize that was how she thought of it.

She would be left out of trials for a few days while it healed. She had plenty of time to think of an escape plan.

* * *

Aeryn's opportunity appeared only a few days earlier. She had a friend on the inside… Kind of. Apparently a woman that her brother had helped once. Why she was still doing all of this for some offshoot of Cerberus was beyond Aeryn, but she would take the help where she could.

The woman had been in to dress her wounds, had whispered "below the audio pick up of the microphones" in her room. Yeah, right.

The plan wasn't perfect, far from it actually. But, it was the best she had to work with on such short notice. She knew her destination, she knew the final outcome of this venture.

She trusted her inside person to get her a way out, but without resistance was another thing altogether.

The alarms began to go off, her door light changed from red to green and then all electricity went out.

Crude, but effective.

Aeryn roused herself up and made for the door. She could hear the guards yelling orders and running to posts. Posts she had memorized while being moved from room to room.

The only area she didn't know by heart was the space port. She was unconscious the only time she had been through there, but she had to take that chance. It was either the unknown or stay in this place until she was a brainwashed puppet.

She waited for the hallway to clear of rushing guards before she pushed her door open and slipped out. It was dark and for the first time she thanked her upgraded eyes. She could see perfectly fine. She made off in the direction the mole had indicated for her to leave. Slow and quiet.

She made it to the port and ducked into a cubby to check the surrounding area for guards. She found the provisions she had requested, a copy of the vid files regarding her stay here at the Hell Day Spa, some food and bandages. Her neck was still healing but as long as she kept up the medigel regime it would heal just fine leaving a small scar.

Her blatant disregard for her own life was supposedly what had prompted the young female assistant to help her. She refused to give Aeryn her name out of fear and Aery could sympathize. The woman said she thought Aeryn had volunteered.

Bullshit.

The woman was deluding herself for the opportunity to work on genetic alteration. However, Aeryn wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth. She would jump on this opportunity.

The coast looked clear and Aeryn made her way towards the closest shuttle. Standard Kodiak, but it had the ability to get her where she wanted to go with little issue. Sure, it wouldn't be comfortable, but who the fuck cared at this point.

She was halfway across the hanger before she got the feeling that something wasn't quite right. She thought she heard a noise behind her when pain blossomed in her side.

Shit.

Her mole either set her up, folded or she had an overly efficient guard stumble upon her.

The sudden blast of gunfire from multiple directions was her answer. It was more than one guard, her mole had spilled the proverbial beans or set her up. Either way it no longer mattered. Freedom was within her grasp.

Not wasting a second, Aeryn sprinted towards a different shuttle. One that wouldn't be an obvious choice for someone running for their lives, someone untrained. If they had known this was where she would be then logic suggested that they would try to disable the choice shuttles.

Aeryn was lucky it was dark. She was also lucky that she was currently navigating the most piss poor designed and managed space port known to the galaxy. She was a trained infiltrator and sometimes she thought her captors had forgotten that.

She found a shuttle, around a corner and down a passage. It had an open shot towards the protective mass effect field and was completely unguarded. Her pursuers were fast on her heals and even with her upgrades she couldn't outrun them forever.

She had been hit multiple times in her attempted escape. Nothing critical, but if she didn't take care of her wounds soon she would bleed out.

Hell, it was still a better alternative than staying in this place.

She boarded the shuttle and prepped for takeoff. Some guards were trying to bodily block her route. Assholes. She didn't give a shit if she killed them.

And that's just what she hoped she did as she plowed straight into them. Before accelerating through the mass effect field and off world, she utilized the weapons on the Kodiak to critically damage the rest of the shuttles and the frigate standing by.

She hoped that everyone on the launch pad was caught in the crossfire and explosions.

She punched in her destination, recorded a messaged for the docking crew when they grilled her on who she was and why she was there should she pass out. Hacking the shuttle's tracking software was easy enough so that she could pass out with the comfort of no waking back up looking at Dr. Tolorin's scrunched face.

Good thing she paid attention in tech class.

She was confident that they would have to manually follow her and that they would have a hard time finding an undamaged shuttle. Even the frigate would have to limp after her and at this point her undamaged shuttle would be more maneuverable.

She settled herself in the pilot's chair and took a deep breath of relief. Tending her wounds would keep her alive for a little while, but not indefinitely. She would likely be unconscious once she reached Omega.

Good thing she was on Aria's good side. Aeryn had been close to Nyreen before her and Aria had parted ways, and she had gotten close to Aria in the process and stayed close to her. Seen as something of a kindred sister, Aria and Aeryn had saved each other's collective asses on multiple occasions.

It was time for Aeryn to call in another "save my ass you blue bitch" moment.

Aeryn smiled to herself at the thought.

She knew she couldn't rely on the mole to send John the vids on her stay in the white walled hell, but she wasn't so sure that she could have trusted the woman to make a copy of the vids either, since she had ultimately betrayed her.

Aeryn popped the OSD into the vid screen next to her to confirm its contents.

Sure enough, there was ever glorified moment of her experience. Good. The mole obviously didn't think she could make it off of the rock.

She hid the OSD in among her meager belongings and waited.

Eventually her eyes closed and her breathing evened out. Blood dripped down her dangling hand to sully the floor with specs of red.


	3. Chapter 3

"Shuttle, state your business or be blown out of existence!" The annoyed port control officer stated for what seemed like the thousandth time that day.

A recorded message was his only response. He was about to signal for the defense cannons to decimate the craft when three worlds break through his mental "I don't give a fuck" haze.

"… Queen of Mercy…"

No one called Aria the Queen of Mercy… But one of Aria's emergency codes for close acquaintances prior to the Cerberus attack was "The Blue Queen of Mercy will guide me".

Some asari bullshit play on words, but he knew better than to ignore the fact that it was close enough.

He alerted Aria's personal guard of the message and allowed the shuttle to land. He'd let the Talons deal with it.

* * *

Aria listened to the message that the port manager had sent her. She recognized the voice. It was a voice that she was not supposed to hear again except in memories.

Aria was not normally a sentimental person, but she had lost enough of her close inner circle within the last two years and Aeryn Shepard was not someone she was keen on losing again – If she could avoid it.

Looking as uninterested as usual, she ordered Darius, the replacement Talon leader after Nyreen's idiotic death, to personally look into the shuttle and its' cargo.

Aria began absently tapping her finger on her couch after the man left. It was the only sign that she was impatient to hear back from the squad she had sent on the contents of that shuttle.

* * *

Darius was a careful turian. He had respected Nyreen and continued in her honor to keep the Talon's in line and respectable. Being Aria's personal task force was not how he had envisioned his life, but it was a good job and had high benefits.

The downside were orders like this one. Checking out some damned shuttle. Whoever was on it was probably important to Aria. Darius hadn't worked with the woman for this long and not picked up on her little habits. She may look cold and uncaring, but if she was sending him to take care of this then the person had to be someone important.

His team checked the exterior of the shuttle and in the windows, reporting back that all they saw was some liquid on the floor and seat, but they couldn't tell what color it was or even what it was since the windows were dimmed.

According to the port officer it had been airing a pre-recorded message and seemed to land on autopilot. It was suspicious enough to set him on edge.

He had his tech override the door controls and had the team run a standard sweep on the interior. His captain rushed out with his face blanched.

"Boss, it's a human woman. She's out cold and has multiple wounds… Some are not made recently. There's blood everywhere. We need medical here ASAP."

Spirits damn it all, Aria wasn't going to like this. He had his captain order a medical team and stepped away to call Aria.

"Aria, it's a human woman and she's badly injured. Unconscious and injured. I've ordered a medical team here and I'll let you know where they take her."

He hadn't even finished his sentence before she was ordering him around.

"No, Darius, bring her to my apartment. Make the medical team aware that if they even breathe so much as a word of this to anyone that I will string them and their immediate and extended families up as décor for Afterlife!"

With that she disconnected he call.

Spirits, who is this woman?

He glanced at the woman on the gurney. The Medical team was already treating and prepping for transport.

Something about her nagged at him. He had seen her before but he couldn't place where or when. She was in bad shape, who knows how long she had been in that shuttle and unconscious.

Either way, he decided that it would be in his best interests to follow the medical team and personally watch over her. He didn't want Aria even more pissed and on his ass.

One of his team brought him what appeared to be her personal effects. Some bandages, food wrappers and an OSD. Seemed rather miniscule for someone on a shuttle ride and obviously abused.

Aria was waiting at her apartment for the team. She nodded her approval of his personal escort before focusing on the woman of the hour.

He had never seen concern flash across Aria's face before and to say it was disconcerting was an understatement. The fact that this injured human brought out such emotion from Aria… Aria never gave a vorcha's ass over anyone except herself.

* * *

Aria followed the team asking numerous questions before turning back into queen bitch mode without so much as a second thought.

She had shown a great deal of concern already and she didn't need anyone picking up on the fact that she was concerned and fond of this human.

They stripped the human and all the doctors let out a collective gasp. She had bruising over most of her torso and three distinct shot wounds. The scar running over the front of her torso was gnarly enough, but they also pulled the bandages off her throat thus completing the grotesque picture.

Aria fumed. Whom ever had done this to her Aeryn was going to pay, slowly. She couldn't help but wonder why Aeryn ran here instead of to Shepard's Normandy. Then she remembered that Aeryn had been hot and heavy with the XO… Who was now conveniently bedding the quarian.

No, doubted Aeryn Shepard would want to deal with that bullshit after being shot at and apparently mutilated.

Turning to Darius, Aria eyed her head of the guard. He was a smart man, he would've picked up on something unsual.

"Did she have anything on her in the shuttle?"

He handed her the supplies and OSD… She eyed the OSD before walking to another room and plugging it in to a vid screen.

* * *

The next few hours the doctors worked on Aeryn, Aria and Darius watched in horror as the story of the woman in the other room over played out for them.

From discovery to just before her escape, every surgery, every death, every time she fought back and failed was there on display.

Darius excused himself from the room when the woman had slit her own throat. He came back after he heard the vid stop and turned to Aria.

"Aeryn Shepard, like Commander Shepard? Is she related to him somehow?"

Aria looked like she wasn't going to answer right away but then decided that he had seen everything else, why not tell him the truth.

"His younger sister to be more exact. She was a close friend of Nyreens."

It was as much of a reason as Darius was likely to ever get as to why Aria was expending so much effort on the human.

Close to Nyreen. That was probably where he had recognized her. She was the hooded Alliance Officer who had met with Nyreen on multiple occasions.

It meant that she was also probably close to Aria.

Before he could ask further questions, one of the doctors walked in to the room. He was wiping a lot of blood off on a towel…

"Will be alright, will need to heal for a few days and regular treatments. Has been extensively worked on, possible enhancements."

Aria nodded and reiterated the warning the doctors had already received about keeping quiet about her guest and she had them ushered out.

Aria moved in to the room where the other woman was resting on a make shift bed. The human was still unconscious as Aria ran a blue finger over the wound on Aeryn's neck.

"Why did you run to me of all people little kitten…"

Darius stayed by the door and would have missed what Aria had muttered had he not been paying attention.

This human was going to be trouble.

* * *

Aeryn was moving around Aria's apartment. She was bored and the damned asari bitch from hell wouldn't let her leave citing her safety. She just didn't want to have to explain her houseguest!

Darius walked in and nearly doubled over with laughter at the look on his little ward's face. She was pouting, something he never would have been able to read off of a human prior to becoming her babysitter.

"What's got your, what was the phrase, panties in a twat?"

Her head snapped around and she glared venomously at him.

"Panties in a twist. Not twat. And she won't let me leave! I'm so boooored."

With the long drawn out word she dramatically flung herself onto the sofa. Darius made his way to the piece of furniture and leaned over it to eye his prisoner.

"Well, you did come off of a shuttle bloody and unconscious not even two weeks ago. I swear I've never seen Aria show so much emotion, she may have even had a frown on her face instead of a scowl. You managed to worry the Queen of Omega, you deserve house arrest."

He couldn't help ribbing her a bit. He had grown quite fond of the little human in the two weeks he had to spend with her. He could see how she got under the usually tough and unapproachable's skin. She was quick with her wit and had a biting humor.

He had only seen her down once despite the ordeal she had been through and that was when a new vid mentioned something of the Normandy. She had changed it immediately and refused to talk about why.

Something was keeping her from her brother's ship and it annoyed him that she wouldn't tell him why.

Before he could go in to interrogating her yet again on her reasoning for self-exile post freedom Aria walked in.

* * *

Aria had been thinking over her discussion with Aeryn for a few hours now. The little snit wanted her to train her on how to use her biotics… and had offered to be Aria's personal assassin.

Aeryn had no desire to return to the Alliance and was apparently content to hide out in Omega. Aria wasn't keen on having to teach someone… well… anything, but Aeryn would be a danger to herself and others if she couldn't learn to control her increased biotic skills.

Moreover, a personal assassin sounded nice. As Aeryn pointed out Aria wouldn't have to pay her as much for standard jobs and Aeryn wanted final say in whether she went through with the hit or not.

It was a good deal.

The final caveat was that Aeryn's identity would be completely anonymous. Hell, the woman already had her outfit picked out.

The fact that this would annoy Darius to no end that Aria was placing 'his ward' in danger tickled Aria just enough to make her decision for her.

"Aeryn, I've considered your proposal and I accept. Be ready first thing in the morning for your combat training and I have your first hit lined up for when we're done."


	4. Chapter 4

_**I would like to thank HeidiM2574 for pretty much reviewing everything I had posted today. She actually pushed me forward on posting this chapter instead of waiting for a bit. **_

_**Enjoy!**_

* * *

Two months of grueling torture. That was what this bullshit with Aria had been. Sure, she'd asked for it. Hell, Aria is one hell of a biotic and Aeryn would have been stupid for _not_ training with Aria given the chance. But still, the woman was a slave driving asshole.

Aeryn returned with Aria to her apartment most nights in a state of catatonia. She was exhausted and would usually just collapse on the couch and sleep where she fell.

However it was getting easier. It was becoming less hard, for a better phrase – more second nature. Her biotic skills weren't the only thing that was changing. Her body fat and muscle ratios were also on the move. She had always kept a bit of flesh on her in order to look less imposing.

She was used to doing undercover work and she wasn't supposed to look like a career soldier.

Now, she no longer had that holding her back. She was slimmer than she had ever been, but a slim beanstalk of pure muscle and violence. Aria was rubbing off on her.

She prided herself on being as nimble, if not more so, as those Cerberus phantoms and nemesis that had stalked her and her brother throughout the war. Little bitches.

She could even creep along beam and rope without so much as breaking a sweat whereas she used to just crawl and pray to whatever deity she could think of that she wouldn't fall.

She had trained herself, with Aria's help, to be an unstoppable and precise assassin.

Now she just needed a name…

The Black Dahlia.

* * *

News reports were coming in sporadically from the traverse. Aria had not only gotten herself a private army in the Talons, but apparently a private assassin as well.

A very good assassin.

The Black Dahlia was stacking up quite the body count.

John had asked Liara to look in to the assassin and even as the Shadow Broker she had come back with pretty much nothing.

_The Black Dahlia: _

_Profession: Assassin_

_Age: Unknown_

_Gender: Female_

_Race: Human_

_Alias: Unknown_

_Family: Unknown_

_Affinity: Omega, Aria T'Loak, Talon Gang_

_History: Unknown_

_Defining Features: All black suit of unknown manufacture origins, head is covered with a hood and face is partially covered with a fabric mask that covers from the nasal bridge and below, possible tattoos visible on arms and torso around suit but of undiscernible origin or content._

_Recruitment Possibility: Low, have sent multiple requests for recruitment and all requests have been denied… Vehemently. _

John threw the data pad back on to his desk and sighed. He was supposed to track this woman for Hackett and he pretty much only had one lead. Aria.

Liara wasn't too thrilled with the prospect of him going to Aria since the last meeting with the self-proclaimed Queen of Omega had landed him a kiss from said Queen. Liara had taken offense.

So Liara would definitely be on the ground team, he should probably take Garrus as well. He needed to start taking Garrus on more missions.

He had been leaving Garrus out for a while now. He hadn't decided if it was because he was giving him and Tali some alone time or if he was still pissed off at his friend for sleeping with the quarian so soon after Aeryn had died.

Aeryn. He missed his sister. She had this quirky sense of humor that melded well with his own. She was a hot head and had this way about her that commanded respect. But she was fast friends with everyone she had come in contact with. Everyone except Tali.

Maybe that was why John had been so peeved when Garrus and Tali had started sleeping together. It was the one person his sister wouldn't have approved of. Not that appeasing the dead was ever high on John Shepard's list of priorities.

There was no point in dwelling on what his sister would and would not have liked anyways, she was gone and you can't live for the dead.

He would bring Garrus and Liara to Omega.

* * *

Darius looked at his little human as she lazily drank her beer across the table. They were in his apartment, away from prying eyes and cameras so her mask was thankfully off and he could actually look at her fully.

She wasn't answering his question though, so he simply asked it again.

"Why haven't you sent anything to your brother about being alive? It's almost been a year since we found you. You've let him think you dead for over a year and a half."

She grimace when she realized he wasn't going to just let it go.

"I don't know, Darius. He's moved on, they all have. What good would it do for me to pop out like a party favor and be like 'Hey guys, I'm alive! Wassup!?' I mean really… I think it would cause more harm than good."

He growled again, it was that damn scientist talking again. She had managed to fight most of their brainwashing bullshit, but this 'they don't care' attitude had stuck.

The only way he was going to get her over it was to push her past her emotional limit.

He knew he was probably shooting himself in the foot. He had been trying to convince the woman to date him exclusively for months. He had been trying to make her his.

If he was going to push for her to contact her brother that meant the other turian would follow. The turian who had bondmarked her and then moved on no less than a month after she had 'died'. Bastard.

He hated that man. But he was willing to take that risk if it meant her reconnecting with her family. It was obvious she had little to live for as it was and that she was just going through the motions.

Sure, she cared about him and Aria, but it wasn't the 'I live for you' type of caring. It was that they were nice, unassuming company who had emotionally started to build her back up.

Their only expectations of her was for her to take what she wanted and to give nothing back, not much foundation for building some personal happiness.

He looked her straight in the eyes as he pushed her further, hopefully far enough. "That's bullshit and you know it. You're scared. You're scared that your brother will bring him. You're a coward."

He saw it in her face. Calling her a coward had pushed her into a defiant frame of mind. She hated being called a coward. You could call her every name in the book, but calling her a coward would throw her into a blood curdling rage.

Without so much as a glance she stood and walked to his extranet terminal. He could see her every move as she made and every word she typed.

She sent the mail from her business address. This was the Black Dahlia sending a message, not Aeryn Shepard.

It was good enough.

She left after the message was sent and Darius dropped his forehead to the table top.

He prayed to every spirit he could think of that this wouldn't backfire on him. He prayed for her heart and happiness – with him.

* * *

John was just laying down for a bit before they arrived at the citadel. He needed to rest some before they went and talked to more politicians. Liara was busy doing her Shadow Broker thing so he had more than enough time to himself.

After that they would head to Omega and track down this Black Dahlia person.

As soon as his eyes closed and he began to get comfortable his omnitool pinged him alerting him to a message on his terminal. He debated for a good five minutes whether he should move or not.

Responsibility and curiosity won out. He was always brutally curious about messages he received. What if it was important? What if it was some sweepstakes that he had won!?

He situated himself at his terminal and just sat there for a minute while looking at the title and the sender…

Aeryn Shepard, Subject Alpha.

The Black Dahlia.

Subject Alpha? Why the assassin would be sending him of all people a message, a message about his sister at that, was beyond him.

He uploaded the vid attachment and leaned back.

John felt his heart sink as he watched the vid unfold.

Aeryn was alive. She was alive and had been experimented on. She had even tried to kill herself to escape it! John didn't even hesitated to call Garrus up to his cabin. He had emphasized that Garrus should come up alone and he hoped his friend caught the underlying tone of his summons. They would collectively deal with Tali and her expectedly poor reaction later.

John couldn't stay sitting. He couldn't watch anymore. He grabbed a whiskey and began to pace.

What was taking the damned turian so long!?

What seemed like hours later, five minute-hours later, Garrus knocked on the door and entered the cabin.

* * *

Garrus was taken aback by John's state. He was pacing and drinking… He looked horrible. He looked like someone had kicked him in the head.

John tried to talk, but no words seem to come out. Which is a disconcerting state for John Shepard, Hero of the Galaxy and Mr. 'I-Never-Shut-Up' to be in.

Finally he signed and gestured to the desk.

"Garrus… Watch the vid I have up on the screen. I received it today."

The words were strangled, forced. What could possibly have set John in to such a state?

Garrus clicked the play key and sat back… People at an excavation site in some jungle, nothing unusual…

Then he saw her. _She_ was alive.

_They_ hadn't searched for a person who was still living. _They_ hadn't searched for his _bondmate_… They had assumed the reports were right and that she was lost to them.

He sat through the entire vid, his heart sinking further and further in to his abdomen. He nearly lost it when she stared up at the camera, up at him, and slit her own throat.

Watching her bleed out… While staring at him. Somehow it was so much worse than he remembered – watching her die instead of listening to it, that pain in his chest, the inability to breathe properly.

He watched her escape, wounded, but alive.

Why hadn't they heard from her?

"John… Why hasn't she contacted us? Has she…"

"No, this is the first I've heard of it. We're supposed to be going after this Black Dahlia after the Citadel. Hopefully she'll have more information and she can tell us where she found this…" John gulped down another glass of whiskey before sitting on the edge of his bed.

Garrus' mind was reeling. His Aeryn was alive… And she knew about him and Tali. He could guess as to why she hadn't contacted them. He had watched her treatment at that facility, he knew they were trying to convince her that they didn't care about her.

And spirits damn him! He had given them all the ammunition they had needed! He gave interviews for that bastardized vid special on the 'couples of the Normady'! Tali had convinced him it would be fun for a human holiday called Valentine's Day. He had agreed because why wouldn't he? He and Tali were, are, together and he didn't have to worry about a dead person seeing it!

But she saw it all… and he saw her reaction to it.

The betrayal and hurt was there on her face, plain as day. She hadn't even pretended to hide it behind the stoic mask she wore through most of the recording. Then she'd slit her own throat.

His actions helped cause her to do that…

Garrus dropped his head into his hands and keened loudly. He'd been why she hadn't contacted them.

* * *

Aeryn left Omega the next day for the Citadel. She had a job to do there and decided that she would not be saying goodbye to Darius. Let him freak out for a few days that she may have left permanently.

Calling her a coward, puh!

She boarded her personal corvette shuttle and charted the trip. She had to kill some idiotic volus diplomat who was threatening to sell Aria's secrets to the counsel.

Moron.

She needed to kill him quickly and move on to the next mission, Aria was in a hurry with this one and said she had some big fiasco she wanted Aeryn involved with.

Aeryn settled herself down in bed and just stared at her ceiling. She had a bad feeling about this… She shouldn't. It was a volus for cthulhu's sake!


	5. Chapter 5

Aeryn hated traveling by herself. Sure, it was all fun for the first few hours, getting to walk around naked and singing at the top of her lungs… But then who was she going to talk to?

Luckily she had her video games.

Nothing was sweeter than sniping some 15 year old kid and listening to him rage about it through the general chat.

It was the little things in life.

By the time her shuttle docked at the Citadel Aeryn was in the right frame of mind to go to work. Listening to idiots rage about dying in a video game always did make her want to shoot something.

She made sure she was completely unidentifiable as Aeryn Shepard. Only the Black Dahlia could ever be identified in public.

A certain amount of identification as the noted assassin was good for business afterall. Obviously nothing showing her at the scene of her upcoming crime – but something showing that she was on the Citadel while a highly guarded volus was murdered would bring Aria some added prestige and would get Aeryn a nice bonus.

Maybe. Aria wasn't really the "bonus often" type.

Aeryn activated her cloak and discretely left the shuttle. She had put in an order for some supplies to be delivered so no one would think the shuttle being docked for a few hours was anything other than a routine supply pickup with no time for shore leave.

Aeryn had studied the maintenance tunnel layouts and had already planned her route to the volus' apartment, all she needed to do was get in to the access bay from the main docking center.

Easy-peasy!

* * *

John loathed having to deal with politicians. Loath wasn't even strong enough a word. The newest human counselor was breathing down his neck about trade agreements with the batarians and wanted Shepard to head the talks.

The batarians hated Shepard! Why would he be the one chosen for this diplomatic mission?

Ah well, such is the life of the great and mighty Commander Shepard! Why did he still think of himself as 'Commander'? He had been promoted to Captain some time ago.

Everyone remembered him as Commander and to be frank, his spectre status kind of made the Alliance rank obsolete.

Shepard was pulled out of his musings by a mass of c-sec officers charging into one of the apartment buildings that nearly trampled him on their way.

He should probably watch where he was going if he wanted to meet Garrus and Liara for lunch in one piece.

They were going to discuss the upcoming Omega trip before setting off. He needed both of them to be at their best when he started asking about Aeryn. He didn't want anything to slip by them – he wanted his sister back.

Truth be told, Garrus hadn't been at his best since John had shown him the footage of Aeryn. Sure, John was beyond upset that his sister had been alive and he hadn't known. He'd been furious at what had been done to her. But he was also excited that she was alive.

Garrus had withdrawn more than usual. John was not envious of the position Garrus found himself. He was seeing Tali, a bit more than casually, and his deceased fiancée had returned from the dead. A fiancée that John was certain Garrus was still in love with.

John wasn't sure how this entire situation was going to play out. Tali was going to be upset, that much was certain… But would Garrus try and stick it out with Tali? Or would he immediate drop her for Aeryn? Would Aeryn even want him after he had been with Tali?

Aeryn knew how quickly Garrus had started seeing Tali after her 'death'. John wasn't sure his sister's love for the turian could move past something like that. Moving on that quickly with someone you didn't get along with? John wasn't sure he could do it were he in her place.

John had finally made it to the café where he was going to meet Liara and Garrus. Liara was there already of course, and busy on a call. John sat himself next to her while shooting her a silent smile in greeting. If she were on Shadow Broker business then it wouldn't do for him to make his presence known to the caller.

Garrus hadn't arrived yet, but it was still before their scheduled meeting time so John ordered himself a beer and started thinking of how to deal with Aria and the Black Dahlia.

* * *

Garrus had been avoiding Tali like a plague since he had seen the vid of Aeryn. He didn't know how to act now. He knew it was cowardly, but he needed some space and he told Tali as much adding in some excuse about planning some upcoming missions for John. Not completely untrue.

Tali seemed to take the news in stride and was giving him his peace.

Now if only he could actually do something productive with his alone time other than think of what an ass he had made of himself and how he was going to fix everything.

He had been considering asking Tali to make their relationship more official. Not bondmates or anything, but officially dating… He was fairly certain she already considered them that but he hadn't confirmed nor denied the idea.

And now Aeryn was back… Sort of. He was getting ahead of himself for thinking that she would be a romantic player in his life. She knew he had slept with Tali and she knew they were still seeing each other.

Spirits and how she was so suspicious of Tali before… He basically confirmed all she had been worried about.

Garrus was pulled out of his internal reverie by a platoon of c-sec rushing by. It was unusual to see so many going in the same direction.

Must be something big happening in one of the apartments.

Probably some domestic dispute. Judging by the sheer number of c-sec Garrus would chance a guess that a krogan was involved.

Garrus got to the café with minutes to spare. He hated being late.

Liara was on a phone call and John was already sipping beer. He was greeted with a friendly smile that helped to calm Garrus' nerves a bit.

He knew they were going to be talking about finding Aeryn on their trip to Omega and to say that the entire subject put him on edge would be an understatement and he suspected John was equally on edge, for different reasons of course.

* * *

Aeryn watched as c-sec scrambled towards the apartment. She knew that damned walrus, pillbug, bag of hot air had a silent alarm somewhere.

Whatever, she had killed him with barely a struggle and had managed to leave before c-sec had even gotten close. She had scrambled the surveillence enough that it wouldn't show her at all.

She was completely undetected and casually moved through the presidium. She was in no hurry to get back to her shuttle, being in a hurry would only draw attention to herelf and she wasn't ready for that just yet.

Someone had set up a grand piano near the water, probably for some high priced benefit. Real pianos were hard to come by and generally only showed up as a show of opulence among human high society.

Aeryn loved to play the piano.

Well, it wouldn't hurt for her to give an impromptu concernt now would it? Besides, it would be the perfect thing to draw attention to herself before she made her way back to the docks.

Aeryn didn't even bother to cloak herself, the guard was already horribly distracted trying to figure out what was going on in the Tiberius Towers.

Aeryn expertly situated herself on the bench and quickly chose a song to play. It was a classic and her favorite. Ravel's Pavane Pour une Infante Defunte. Of course it was a classic, but no one played the classics anymore.

Aeryn played the music by heart.

* * *

John was the first to hear the music. It was unusual to hear a human classic on the presidium, especially what sounded like live.

He immediately went to work trying to locate where the song was coming from and noticed the woman in all black sitting at a white grand piano. A real grand piano. He didn't know of many that still existed. Hell, he was surprised Anderson had one in his apartment.

She was hooded and it was difficult to see anything of her other than the fact that she was playing the song by heart.

He completely lost track of the conversation around him as he lost himself in the song. It was Aeryn's favorite one to play and seemed a fitting backdrop to them talking about finding her.

* * *

Garrus stopped talking shortly after John did and followed his gaze to the human woman playing some sort of instrument near the lake.

It was a piano, he remmebered Aeryn loved to both play and listen to them.

The woman was obvious confident in what she was playing since she never looked up from the keys. She seemed to be playing the piece by memory.

The song was familiar to him, probably one Aeryn had him listen to.

He lost himself in the music for a bit, letting his mind go comfortably blank.

* * *

The impromptu concert over, the woman stood and bowed then removed herself before the guard could come to his senses and forcibly remove or arrest her.

John's mind went blank after he took in the outfit of the woman. Hood, tactical face covering, strappy looking armor that reminded him of a much more conservative version of a shit that Jack wore… The straps curled around to her thighs and over her tactical pants. Black boots. Tattoos peeking out from the small bits of skin that could be seen…

God damnit! It was the Black Dahlia.

She noticed him as he rose from his seat unconsciously and gestured a casual salute at him before she cloaked herself out of sight.

He was sitting there watching her play the piano for a good ten minutes, he could have apprehended her and interrogated her!

Angrily John sat back down and looked from Liara to Garrus.

"That was the Black Dahlia…"

The surprise on both of their faces made him feel a bit better. They had just been talking about what she looked like, her assassination style, and how to approach her, but the information obviously slipped all of their minds the moment they started watching her play.

John felt a little embarrassed that he was taken in by such an easy rouse. Embarrassed, but not wholly unimpressed by the fact that the assassin obviously wasn't one to stay out of the lime light if it suited her.

"Should we try and head her off at the docks?" Garrus asked as Liara got ready to make a call to prevent the Black Dahlia from leaving.

"No, let her go. We know where she operates out of and she saw me. If we try and catch her like this she'll be less inclined to talk to us. We'll catch up with her at Omega."

They both reluctantly nodded their agreement and went back to their meals.

* * *

John had been there… And hadn't recognized her.

Aeryn shakily sank into the pilot's chair of her shuttle and hastily left Citadel space.

She felt relieved that she had gotten away… and sad that she didn't stay. The mix of feelings was annoying to her. She had never been one to wish-wash through emotions, but ever since she escaped she couldn't make up her mind on what she wanted to do in regards to John, Garrus… Even Darius.

Some of the damned brainwashing had stuck, just like she had feared. She needed to be extra vigilant when it came to making emotional decisions. Knowing that she wasn't thinking straight and correcting the behavior were two different things and she knew from her Alliance training that she needed to be hyper aware of her motivations now more than ever.

She couldn't let the scientists win more than they already had.


	6. Chapter 6

_**Just a heads up, for the song in question it's actually the inspiration for the title of this fic. 'Gods and Monsters' by Lana Del Rey. In case you were wondering what the idea behind Aeryn's sound is. **_

_**Thank you for all of the reviews! I'm going to go through and thank everyone personally today now that I have some free time... But I appreciate them all and would like to remind you that I am looking for a Beta.**_

_**We're getting up to the big ol' family reunion... I'm excited, are you excited?!**_

_**Enjoy!**_

* * *

She may have escaped him, but he would get her back. He had spent a small fortune on acquiring and altering her and he wasn't about to write off the investment.

He would alter how much freedom he allowed her this time, he had apparently given her too much before. It was a mistake he would not repeat. He never repeated mistakes.

Dr. Tolorin had worked very hard on locating and recovering his lost investment. His small army would have to do and seemed to finally be making progress.

He had sent his recovery team out shortly after they repaired the frigate she had unceremoniously damaged. She had such a flair for the dramatic. That was another thing he had given her too much leniency on.

His team had finally reported a lead and he had begun to prep for her reintroduction into treatment.

Soon he would have his property back.

* * *

Garrus had been avoiding her, of that she was certain. Even Shepard had been acting strange. Tali wasn't one to enjoy being left out of the collective loop but no one else seemed to be acting any stranger… Just those two.

Liara was being her normal "don't bother me, I'm busy" self and Javik was uncommunicative as normal. EDI wasn't spilling any information and Joker seemed to be out of the information loop as well. James and Steve were busy being their non-serious selves and she doubted they could keep anything from anyone, let alone her.

Tali was worried. She had no idea what was being kept from her, but she was sure it wasn't something good. She had been making progress with Garrus and she wasn't about to let up now that she was making progress.

She had tried to be accommodating about him needing space and she honestly thought that he was close to committing to a relationship with her.

She had been trying to get him to commit to her for months. At first she was just happy to finally be able to enact her pent up fantasies of being with the awkwardly sexy turian… But now? Now she wanted more. She wanted to be his bondmate.

Aeryn Shepard had no issues getting Garrus to commit to her. The bosh'tet had him wrapped around her finger before Tali had even gotten back on board the Normandy.

Tali had harbored a crush on the man for years before the arrogant human had taken him from her. It took the woman dying before Tali even had a chance to make a move on Garrus.

And Tali had been with Garrus longer than the human and she was still trying to get on equal footing. It was maddening.

Tali could get any quarian man she wanted, she was an admiral after all… Even if it was only in title now that they had reclaimed their homeworld. But she didn't want a quarian man, she wanted the headstrong turian that had been her friend and confident for years.

She felt like he was slipping away again and it was driving her insane. She needed to figure out what they were hiding from her.

She knew they were going to Omega, Liara had been making quips about Aria all week. Garrus had holed himself up in the XO cabin and had only really come out to calibrate the gun and talk to Shepard. Shepard had been pointedly unavailable to her… Though that wasn't necessarily unusual. Their friendship had taken a hit when she started sleeping with Garrus.

The loss of friendship was acceptable as long as she got what she wanted.

Something was up.

She had snuck in to Garrus' quarters once when he and Shepard were on the Citadel but her search proved fruitless.

She knew the ground team for the Omega trip was strictly regulated to Garrus and Liara… She would just have to follow them.

* * *

Darius had been uneasy lately. There were strange people on his Omega and that made him worry. If people were seeming stranger than the Omega regulars then they were people who needed to have an eye kept on them.

The only problem was that even his best trackers couldn't keep an eye on them. As quickly as they popped up, they disappeared.

It didn't help that Aeryn was still sore at him for calling her a coward He knew she had been having a hard time since she had gotten back from the Citadel hit and now she helping Aria with something…

Something that decidedly did not include him. It was putting his teeth on edge.

Aria liked that it bothered him that he wasn't involved, but she kept insisting that he would enjoy the end result.

He was getting cranky without seeing or talking to Aeryn in over a week. She had gotten back from her assignment and then been cordoned off in Afterlife by the Queen herself.

He had heard rumors of some new show that was going to open tomorrow in Afterlife and he had a sinking feeling that Aria had involved Aeryn somehow. Her little piano scene on the Citadel had not gone unnoticed.

He growled to himself as he looked over the reports again. The unusual group were bringing more of themselves in every day and it was sickeningly familiar to when Cerberus took over the station.

Darius increased security on all fronts and beefed up their recruitment numbers. He would not have another bullshit organization try and take over his home again.

* * *

Aria was absolutely tickled about her newest venture. She knew Aeryn was artistically inclined, but after her irritation with the assassin showboating for the Citadel snobs passed she remembered that the woman could also sing. Sing and be sexy as hell while doing it.

Besides, Aeryn needed to chill out and enjoy the simple things in life more often. She was too serious all the time. She needed to have some attention paid to her. Attention a little more direct than the pussy footing Darius was doing around the woman.

Aria had managed to convince Aeryn to sing for her. Of course she didn't tell Aeryn that she was recording it… Nor that the asari "signers" that were supposed to be learning the song were actually just glorified mannequins.

It was already becoming a real cash cow for the asari. She had just leaked a teaser of it and had more than 1 billion inquiries. The royalties off of the ads were enough to make the production cost for future singles disappear.

Now she just needed to convince Aeryn to perform live – identity hidden, of course, and then Aria could add music producer to her list of hobbies.

Having a singer on her payroll could open up new territories for trade. Black trade.

Everything had a dark underbelly where Aria was concerned and that was how she liked it. She wanted more, always more.

She had kept Aeryn busy off station in order to keep the fact that she had leaked the song from her for a little while. She was working her plan to smooth Aeryn over in favor of a live performance. In two days.

Aria busied herself finding the most revealing outfit possible that would still keep Aeryn's identity secret… Something that covered the scars and rendered the tattoo on her arm unidentifiable.

Fuck it, she'd design it herself.

* * *

John had been listening to the Galactic News Network while he was working on his reports when the song was played.

He almost couldn't believe his ears and he had to stare at the vid screen for a bit before it registered that he had heard the song before.

New song his ass, this was Aeryn… She had been working on it before she 'died'. She wasn't one to sing in public but she wrote songs as a hobby.

But this was her voice, her very distinct singing voice.

John instantly pinged Liara.

JS: Liara, the song on GNN right now… Where was it released from?

LT: It's muddled… It'll take some digging. Why?

JS: Aeryn's the one singing it. It's her song.

LT: Are you sure?! John you need to be sure.

JS: Yes, I was helping her with some of the lyrics.

He didn't get a response from her, but a few minutes later she was dragging Garrus in to his cabin.

* * *

Garrus had no idea what had crawled under Liara's fringe but the woman was practically dragging him in to John's cabin.

He almost asked John what was up when he heard the voice.

It was unmistakably Aeryn. He doubted many could pick out that it was her without having heard her sing because she sounded so different than when she normally spoke.

Her singing was rough, deep and completely sexy. He had nearly fallen over himself the first time he listened in secret. She had been discussing lyrics with John when Garrus was passing. They didn't think anyone else was around, but he couldn't bring himself to make his presence known. She might have stopped.

She reminded him of the sexy lounge singers showcased in many old human movies. In fact the way she sang was reminiscent of exactly that. He had never heard a human singer like her and he had always wished she would sing for him.

Hearing her now, on the news as some "unidentified sensation" brought the fact that she was indeed alive home. It made it more real. Up until now they were going on faith that she had made it out of the facility alive. They were going on faith that the Black Dahlia would have more information on her.

This song wasn't complete when she died and it seemed complete now. The snippet that was played was not from the beginning, so more had definitely been added.

Garrus looked at John after the snippet had finished.

"ETA to Omega?"

EDI answered, "Five hours, Garrus."

The men nodded, they would find her.

* * *

Tali had been in the cafeteria when the song had aired and stopped dead in her tracks. The voice sounded so familiar… It was hauntingly beautiful but filled her with such a sense of foreboding that she couldn't shake it.

It was just a minute of the song but it made her feel so uneasy that she rushed to her room and for the next hour tried to find out anything she could on the singer.

* * *

Aeryn was pissed. No, make that furious. Aria hadn't told her she planned to leak a part of the song to the press. Let alone that it would be the part she was singing!

She was just supposed to be singing it for the people who were supposed to perform it for the show!

The bitch recorded her and sent it out.

Now she was sitting in front of her demanding that she sing it at the show – that the other singers had quit citing their inability to sing it correctly.

Bullshit, they were asari! Asari always felt that they could improve upon anything. She would know, she had written songs for a few asari musicians and they were the definition of prima donna.

Aria even had this slinky outfit picked out for her to wear… and something to suggestively cover her face. It looked like a masquerade mask and Aeryn had to admit that the outfit was nice…

But performing in front of a live audience? Singing was completely different than playing the piano… And Aeryn was only comfortable playing a song that she could play in her sleep!

No matter how much she bitched and moaned, argued and cajoled, Aria kept pulling her one ace in the hole.

Aeryn was losing control of her temper, "Isn't enough that I travel all over the godforsaken place and knock off whoever you want, no questions asked!?"

"No."

She had 'saved Aeryn from torture and poverty'. She had 'taken her out of a shuttle bloodied and broken and spent her time and resources fixing her back up'.

Damn whore knew how to play to Aeryn's sense of responsibility.

Ultimately, she gave in as Aria knew she would. Bitch.

She needed a drink, a strong one… And a lot of practice.


	7. Chapter 7

**By the way, I want to give a huge shout out to my new Beta, icyfreezerpop. She's awesome! It's so nice having a second set of eyes to look over my word vomit and correct my love of commas and typos. **

**Thank you so much for all the reviews! I read each and every one and generally chuckle at the commentary (you never know, maybe you're idea will end up in the story? Only the general outline is set!). **

**3**

She had left with Garrus… Darius couldn't say that it wasn't an unexpected ending to the night, but it still hurt.

He had picked up some liquor on his way home and was fully prepared to completely forget this night.

Of course she went off with Vakarian. They were promised to each other! Just because he had slept with someone else didn't mean shit in the grand scheme of things. She was purportedly dead after all.

Shit, it still sucked. He had turned down so many advances trying to make himself more appealing to her.

Entering his apartment, he realized he hated everything about his place. Sure, it was probably his depression talking but the apartment was so stark… So empty.

He set his eight pack of dextro-beer on the counter, taking one as he did so and popped the top off of it, getting to work on his road to oblivion. Walking towards the living room, he stopped and turned around to grab the rest of the pack. He'd probably be drinking the entire thing in the next ten minutes or so.

Before he could throw himself over the back of the couch he realized that there were weird noises coming from the other side.

Had he walked in on someone trying to rob him?! Motherfuckers chose the wrong night!

Adrenaline rushed through his liquored veins. He grabbed a knife out of a drawer before stalking his intruder.

They sure had picked a shitty hiding spot… Other side of the couch, really? Uncreative fucks.

Positioning the knife for a good downward stab Darius moved himself for the best leverage.

Raising the knife he leaned over the back of the sofa and prepared to bring the knife down….

… Right on to Aeryn!?

He panicked for a moment to hide the knife before she realized what he was trying to do. It wouldn't really be polite to stab the woman you were trying to seduce.

After his moment of panic he realized that she hadn't moved at all, not even a chuckle over his unattractive mini-freak out.

He looked more closely at her and realized she was asleep.

She had left with Vakarian and somehow ended up in his apartment and asleep on his couch.

Her night probably hadn't gone as planned, just as his hadn't. Suddenly his night didn't seem so shitty… She had been reunited with her fiancée and ended up alone on the couch of her friend.

Just what had happened?

He softly ran a talon over her cheek then fetched a blanket and draped it over her before silently turning the lights off and moving to his own room to fall asleep as well.

He really didn't feel the need to drink anymore, his beer was forgotten on the counter.

* * *

_Earlier that evening…_

The Normandy had been docked for two days before John and the rest of the squad were permitted to see Aria.

She was stalling them for some reason or another. Of that they were certain. She had specifically said that 'they were ahead of schedule' when they requested an audience.

When did John Shepard ever have to request an audience with the Queen of Omega? Either she beefed up security or she was up to something.

They could see the increased security, but it wasn't anything overly dramatic. The team had unanimously agreed that they were being pushed aside until some other pawns were in place.

However, Aria had sent them a summons for tonight at Afterlife for some shindig… Well, they would take what they could get.

John and Garrus had been on edge during with the entire waiting game and with the final summons, they had set off early with Liara in tow to Afterlife.

When they entered, the music was loud but somber and not at all like Afterlife's normal ear splitting bass mixture of musical vomit.

They were directed through a back passage that lead directly up to Aria's private perch.

Yeah, they were being herded and they knew it.

Aria was leaning over her couch, her attention focused on the center stage performer. The stage had been set up above the main bar and the normal poles for dancing and video screen had been cleared away so that the singer in the middle was the star of the night.

A slim woman wearing probably the most seductive outfit either man had ever seen. Two to three inch long straps were strategically placed over the woman's torso, making an X pattern on her front and back. There was also a strip of fabric that covered straight across her chest and neck. The crisscrossed pieces wrapped around her hips and upper thigh while her groin area had a skirt swathed over it, leaving one thigh completely exposed.

Black above-the-knee boots completed the ensemble. Her dark hair cascaded down her back in little ringlet curls.

Neither could see her face until they glanced up to the video screen on the opposite wall. Her face was covered in a black half-mask, complete with sequins. To offset her completely black attire she had vibrant red lipstick on.

Both realized who it was about a second later.

Aeryn, and she was singing for a crowd. A crowd that was decidedly memorized by the show. She was moving seductively as she sang and was obviously pouring a lot of emotion in to the piece.

John would have been impressed with Aria's ability to get her to finally perform in public had the situation been different. As it was he was more focused on learning why Aria had not informed him that she was acquainted with his sister and why she hadn't told him that she was alive.

Aria owed him, big time.

Before he could question her about anything, in a rare show of compassion from the asari, she spoke first.

"Isn't she spectacular? She came here first, you know. To me. Bloodied, beaten and wanting to completely seclude herself from everyone else."

It was all she said, but it spoke volumes to Shepard on the apparent friendship between his sister and the ruthless leader of Omega.

He never pretended to know much of Aeryn's social life before the Reaper invasion. She was so in and out of contact that it was hard to really sit down and hash out each other's lives.

It seemed that all of their planning for finding out the whereabouts of his sister was a wasted effort. She was handed back to them on a silver platter of friendship. Friendship he wasn't about to question at this point.

Garrus seemed to lose interest in the whys and hows of the whole ordeal as well. He was mesmerized by the woman before him to the point where John was fairly certain he hadn't heard a word Aria had said. His entire world had become refocused to the woman in all black at center stage.

John did, however, notice that a guard of Aria's was glaring daggers at Garrus. No, make that head of the guard judging by how close he was to Aria's side.

Huh. Interesting.

Shepard didn't really have a whole lot of time to analyze the blossoming situation however. As he was wrapping his arm around Liara's waist to enjoy the concert and daydream about getting to give his live sister a hug, all hell broke loose.

* * *

Aeryn had been watching the men enter the club and start to circle the stage. She hadn't become a successful assassin by inattention to her surroundings, nerve wracking concert or not.

She already had an escape route planned, one that would lead her quickly to the remnants of her armor that she had managed to convince Aria she may need, should Aria be the one in need of protection. She never thought that the scientists would find her here.

It was naïve of her. She should have known better.

She saw one of the private army raise his closed fist as if to throw something. A stun grenade.

Just as he released the projectile, Aeryn dove to the opposite side of the stage and rushed through the crowd towards one of the private rooms.

She would only have a few moments before the panic of the crowd couldn't keep her hidden so she quickly shucked off the skirt and boots and replaced them with her pants. The mask ended up torn and on the floor while she adorned herself with a hood and a tactical mask. Even if it was obvious who she had just been, if people weren't looking for the similarities then they wouldn't see them.

These soldiers obviously knew who she was anyways.

Grabbing the few weapons she had stashed away; a pair of gurkhas and a pistol, she rushed back into the fray. She didn't need much assistance from weapons as it was – Aria had made sure of that.

Still, slitting a few throats never hurt for the shock value in a fight.

Before Aeryn had exited the room she heard returning fire and two familiar voices shouting dual commands. Darius and John.

Well, she was going to have to see her brother again sometime, why not right after someone attempts to abduct her?

Perfect timing in the eyes of the Gods of Bad Timing.

Without further hesitation she entered the fight, her biotics flaring. She knew where John was, Garrus was as well and his back was completely covered.

Time to get a little dirty.

* * *

John and Garrus hadn't seen where she had gone, all they knew was that she wasn't on the stage anymore and the would-be abductors were still searching frantically for her.

She was an accomplished fighter before she had decided to go private gun for hire, so they weren't too worried about her getting caught – they just wanted to avoid shooting her in their crossfire.

They didn't have to wonder for long. A flash of blue and eye of black was their first hint at where she was. Shouts and groans of pain were already beginning to erupt from the front of the club.

Garrus had to stop himself from gaping at how magnificently she fought. She was the embodiment of wrath and grace. Her style wasn't all that different from before the alterations, from what he could tell, though she had more confidence in her movements and was much bolder in her attacks.

Probably because of the barriers she could throw up at the drop of a hat. That was probably thanks to Aria; he didn't remember her having any sort of quality biotic training from the vid.

The fight was long, and bloody, and by the end of it everyone on their side was exhausted and everyone opposing them was dead.

Aria started to clap and made some snide comment about how the Shepard siblings were always good for entertainment.

He didn't hear a word after that and he would wager that Aeryn hadn't either. They were simply staring at each other and waiting for the other to make the first move.

John made it for them by simply walking up to his sister and ripping her against him. Garrus was certain there were tears and promises of catching up later, but John had reluctantly stepped aside and allowed Aeryn and Garrus some privacy.

Aeryn reached her hand out to Garrus, beckoning him to go with her. He obliged immediately.

He didn't remember taking the steps to her, nor leaving Afterlife. The moment his hand touched hers, it was all he could focus on in order to not verify for himself that she was there, that she was alive.

They stopped outside of a private apartment complex. She pulled her hood back and her mask down and just stared at him for a moment. The emotions he saw in her eyes mirrored his own.

He started to touch her face, ran his talons through her hair, touched his forehead to hers and breathe in her exhaled breath.

Within seconds they were kissing and feeling one another. Every touch of mouth and hand were only inciting them further and further in to their desperate reunion.

It didn't last long.

A gasp and clatter of something dropping tore their attention from one another and towards the source of the sound.

Tali.

Tali had followed him.

One hand was over the vocal speaker of her helmet and the other was over her chest. She was shaking her head and backing away. With a wail of horror and despair she turned on heel and ran.

Garrus was torn. He felt the acute need to follow and comfort Tali, but Aeryn was alive in his arms. Aeryn. The confusion started to overwhelm him and he started after Tali. He couldn't pinpoint if it was out of guilt, habit, or an actual desire to comfort her over Aeryn.

Aeryn had grabbed his arm and pleaded with him not to go.

But he did go.

It was probably the single most idiotic thing he had done in his entire life.

* * *

Aeryn was in a state of shock. Garrus had just left her to chase Tali. She abruptly decided that this feeling was worse than watching him leave with her on the news vid. That had hurt her and made her question, yes, but this was a heart wrenching, sharp pain that filled the emptiness she now felt.

She didn't know what to do as the tears trailed down her cheeks. She looked around and realized she had brought them to Aria's penthouse. She had no desire to go in to that apartment now.

She ended up wandering for a good portion of the night. She pulled her hood back over her head so no one could see the makeup and tears running down her face, not that she would have cared if anyone had noticed at this point. She was acting out of habit and not conscious thought.

When she finally came back to reality she realized she was outside of Darius' apartment.

Darius. He wouldn't have left her like that. He would've understood her. He wouldn't have left.

She punched in the code to his apartment. He wasn't home, but just being there made her feel more comfortable. She settled herself on the couch, staring at the ceiling listlessly, eventually falling into a dreamless sleep.

She awoke some time later and realized that he was home. He had put a blanket over her. A blanket was not what she wanted or needed now. She looked towards his bedroom and made the decision that she should have made a long time ago.

She had just waited for nothing and it was high time she stopped doing nothing with herself.

* * *

Darius shot awake to someone standing in his bedroom doorway. It was Aeryn. He rubbed his eyes a bit to make sure he wasn't dreaming.

"What is it pet? Can I get you anything?"

He was in protective mode of her due to the circumstances of the evening. Hell, he was always protective of her, tonight's events weren't an excuse.

She had the blanket wrapped around her and she had removed her hood. Even in a house it was usual for her to do so, wearing the thing had become second nature.

She clutched the blanket to her a bit tighter and dropped her head. All he could see was her outline against the soft light pouring in from the living room window, but he could tell she was nervous.

Why was she nervous?

"Darius… I don't want to be alone tonight… Can I stay in here, with you?"

He tried not to examine what she was asking too deeply. It was too in line with what he had been dreaming about for weeks.

Keeping his tone neutral even though his plates were shifting and his subvocals were keening in anticipation he cleared his throat before answering her.

"Of course you can, you don't ever have to ask."

It wasn't until she was near the bed that she dropped the blanket.

Spirits she was naked.

They locked eyes for a minute and all good sense left the room. Darius found himself reaching for her as she leaned in to him.

He held her tightly to his chest as their lips met and he was lost.


	8. Chapter 8

**Again, a big thank you to icyfreezerpop for her beta'ing skills! **

Garrus caught up with Tali somewhere in one of the retail districts and grabbed her arm, bringing her to a stop.

"Tali! Let me explain…"

She didn't even bring her face up to look at him, her voice ringing low and hollow, "Explain what? That you didn't bother to tell me that Aeryn was alive? That you didn't tell me that you were going to meet her? How is this even possible?"

He knew she had a right to know and he should have told her before she found out like this. Hell, he should have told her when he found out. He had been so sure that when - and if - he saw Aeryn again that he wouldn't stop himself from reuniting with her.

But he had stopped himself; to chase Tali. Why had he left Aeryn? He was already considering getting back to her, so he knew it wasn't because he loved Tali. He cared for Tali but he didn't love her, not like he loved Aeryn.

So why had he left her?

"John and I found out that she was possibly alive before we went to the Citadel… We had pretty solid evidence that she was still alive before we docked here. I… I didn't want to tell you in case it wasn't true. If I told you it would make it too real and if it had ended up not being true… I couldn't go through that again."

Garrus hung his head as he spoke, anticipating an eruption of fury from her. It would be no less than he deserved. He hadn't told her because he didn't want to hurt again and had paid very little mind to the fact that she would be hurt by his actions.

He would be lying if he said he wasn't aware of her feelings for him. Aeryn had pointed out the resentment from her shortly after Tali's return to the Normandy and when he and Tali… He knew better than to think that she would be able to casually brush this off.

The fact that he couldn't casually break it off as easily as he had imagined spoke volumes for his own feelings.

"Oh Garrus… I know it's got to be hard on you, finding out she was alive all of this time, but you came after me, don't you think that means something? You left Aeryn there after just reuniting with her… She's probably not even there anymore." She stepped closer to him and put her hand on his arm, "I'm here. I know you'll be going through a lot of strange feelings, but I'll stand by your side through it. I'll be here."

Garrus couldn't help but notice the hope in her voice and what she said made sense to a point, but he couldn't lead her on with a false hope for a future.

"Tali, I can't do that to you. I can't be with you while I'm trying to fix things with her." Garrus removed her hand from his arm as he spoke. He was letting her down as gently as he could at this point and although it was too late, he hoped that he wouldn't have to hurt her further.

"Garrus, I'm not going to pressure you, but I'm going to be here for you. Besides, what kind of friend would I be if I didn't support you in something so important to you? I'm sorry I may have muddled things for you two, but I'll help you fix it."

He couldn't deny that the thought of a friend right now sounded like just what he needed. When John eventually found out what happened, Garrus was certain that he would not be happy. Garrus needed to think of a way to fix this mess. Aeryn was certain to be unreceptive for a bit, but he was certain he could get back on her good side.

He needed to succeed with every fiber of his being.

"Thank you Tali, I can't say what this means to me."

* * *

Tali returned to her room on the Normandy and immediately started throwing her belongings all over in a fit of uncontrolled rage.

The bosh'tet was back!

Of course she was, the moment Tali had started to make real progress with Garrus. Tali had enough time to think of a plan as she interrupted Garrus and Aeryn and lead Garrus away from the woman. She would just have to be there for him. Be there in ways that Aeryn couldn't. She would be the whispering in Garrus' ear the entire time he was on his quest to get her back and she would firmly plant herself in his heart.

She had been so damn close! She was meant to be his bondmate, not the blasted human bitch. The bitch had her chance and she disappeared. It was Tali's turn now.

Tali wasted no time hacking in to Omega's surveillance protocols and began tracking where Aeryn went after her little coup. She doubted someone like Aeryn didn't have other friends she could go and cry to and Tali wanted to make sure she knew of all of the players in this game.

* * *

Darius woke to an unfamiliar warmth on his side. It took him a minute to come to his senses and remember exactly why he would have someone in his bed.

Not just someone; Aeryn.

Spirits, it wasn't a dream. She was really curled up against his side, her forehead pressed against his plates as her head was ducked under his arm and resting softly on one of his pillows.

He smelled her everywhere and his chest swelled with pride and happiness. The night came back to him in a rush. It was probably the most passionate night he'd had in years, and it certainly was one of the best. They had moved all over his apartment and he didn't think there was a spot on either of them that hadn't been explored.

He reached over himself and brushed her hair out of her face. She wasn't his first human, but she was the most memorable.

Darius was supposed to be a cold blooded killer, head of the Talon Gang of Omega, leader of Omega's security force, but this little human next to him made him feel like an idiot kid. He never saw himself being considerate or affectionate with a bed partner before; he had never desired to be tied to someone. He wanted to be tied to her.

Sure, she had her issues and in the grand scheme of things she was pretty broken emotionally. But she had been improving by leaps and bounds recently. She had a quick wit and a dry, morbid sense of humor. She wasn't afraid to stare people like him and Aria in the face and tell them to fuck themselves.  
And she had the ability to back up any threats with real force. Things were never boring around her and he found himself wanting to be with her more than occasionally. He had even thought of asking her to move in with him instead of staying with Aria.

He was getting ahead of himself. They had just slept together once and it didn't mean shit. She was emotionally distraught and he was more than willing. He would just have to make himself irresistible to her.

He would need to get under her skin as much as she had gotten under his.

* * *

Aeryn woke up in slow increments. She was sore in places she had forgotten about and the delicious feeling of small cuts from talons was tingling over her back and hips.

She knew where she was and who she was with and for the first time in weeks, she felt peaceful.  
She stared at Darius for a few moments, he was lost in thought so she took the opportunity to just stare. His plates were a lovely dark black-brown and his stark white and red clan markings made him look dashing and dangerous.

She had always noticed that Darius was an attractive turian. He was tall and stockier than most turians she had seen, still in the right proportions, just bigger. He certainly never had a lack of possible partners. She counted once that he was propositioned no less than four times a day depending on where they were patrolling.

Absently she raised her hand to his face and traced the marking on his mandible, soliciting his immediate attention. Emerald green eyes met her brilliant blue and a soft smile was shared between them.

This was what she needed. Camaraderie, friendship, companionship. She was not meant to travel alone though she was perfectly capable of doing so. She desired this closeness too much to make a habit of it for long.

Without words she moved to straddle his waist. She ran her fingers over his unplated neck and in the rim of his cowl, her lips sucking on his mandibles. She managed to wring a few groans out of him before he grabbed her by her waist and forcefully switched their positions.

He was inside of her less than a heartbeat later and they rode the crescendo of their mutual desires well in to the late morning.

* * *

John was waiting for Aeryn at the café they had agreed on. Well, to call it a café was entire too kind. It was a bar with stools with which one ate food upon. John hadn't seen Garrus this morning and EDI had confirmed that he hadn't returned to the ship so he almost expected to see Garrus come to the eatery with Aeryn.

When she showed up decidedly alone he was more than a little surprise.

"Where's Garrus?" He asked after giving her another long hug and a kiss on top of her hooded head.  
She seemed to tense for a minute before sliding on to the stool next to his. She signaled to the bartender to bring her a shot of some bright pink liquor.

"Tali apparently followed you guys. He left with her."

She didn't need to elaborate on what that meant, John knew too well how that must have ripped at her. He silently reclaimed his seat next to her and followed her lead, ordering himself a shot.

"Aeryn… I'm sorry. I had ordered everyone to stay on the Normandy when we were gone…"

She shook her head and laughed humorlessly, "You know very well that half of that crew could sneak out if they truly wanted to. Besides, I can't say that I blame her. If I were in her position I wouldn't just sit around and twiddle my thumbs."

John cursed inwardly. He was going to ask her to come back to the Normandy with him. He had figured with Garrus by her side the issues with Tali would work themselves out.

Not that John had a lot of experience in these types of situations. He had been with Liara for, technically, nearly five years now. He had never had to deal with another person in his love life.

He doubt she'd want to come back now if Garrus and Tali were still together. She certainly wouldn't want to deal with that kind of adversity so soon after escaping another difficult situation.

The whole situation pissed him off. His sister was one badass chick, but she was still his little sister. He hated to see her hurt and he could tell by the slight puff and tinge of red to her eyes that she had cried a good deal the night before. She was putting on a strong front but she was still hurting.

"I guess asking you to come back to the Normandy is out now, huh? Damnit, I was so certain you and Garrus would be back in force! Why are you being so calm about this? I can't be angrier than you about your love life?"

She looked up at him and blinked a few times before smiling the most pathetically sad smile he had ever witnessed.

"No, I'm not angry John. I'm hurt. But I'll live, I have to. This situation, well, weird. I was supposed to be dead, my fiancé moved on. I can't really begrudge him for that, no matter how much it hurts. Besides it's not so bad. I'm now free to explore the single life, something I had been decidedly not doing before. And no, I don't think I'll be returning to the Normandy just yet. I'm not saying no permanently… But just not right now."

He was relieved that she wasn't going to avoid the ship forever and he understood her need to lick her wounds. He was impressed with her ability to be somewhat objective about the entire situation and more than a little surprised.

Aria had made it seem like Aeryn was an emotional wreck and maybe she still was, but this was the old Aeryn he was talking to. The reasonable, calm and calculating Aeryn. She was hurt and had she been talking to anyone else he doubted she would be this rational about it.

They had always been close siblings when they were alone. Their parents had died when they were young and they were used to relying on one another. She wouldn't bother to hide behind anger or false happiness with him. She would tell him like it was, like she saw it, unfiltered and raw.

He ordered them both another round of shots and knocked glasses with her. It was nice just to be able to sit next to her again and talk.

He had lost his sister once and he would be damned if it was going to happen again.


	9. Chapter 9

**Sorry for the slight delay! Real life and all (trying to find a house to rent when you own three dogs is a pain in the rear!). I hope you enjoy and I'll warn you now that chapters might be sporadic this week; I'm working overnights so my sleep time will be when I'm normally writing. I'll try to keep the chapters coming out regularly but I make no promises!**

**As always a big thank you to icyfreezerpop for editing this for me!**

* * *

He had been trying to contact her for a few days and she was pointedly ignoring him.

He didn't blame her.

Garrus had, against John and Tali's protests, gone to Afterlife to drink his issues away.

He had no one but himself to blame for this entire debacle. He had handled it completely wrong and he was the reason both Aeryn and Tali were hurt.

Having already downed a few shots of fine Palaven brandy, he moved on to the cheaper and more readily available liquors.

He was well on his way towards blackout when gentle hands pulled away his glass.

He growled at the offending person, not bothering to look up and investigate who was trying to save him from himself.

The hands moved to his forehead and the back of his cowl. These roving hands proved too familiar for his liking and he decided to put an end to it before this person got too comfortable touching him.

He grabbed the person's wrist and twisted, bringing them fully in to his view.

The person was a human, and they were awkwardly bent over the table in front of him. He poured all of his anger in to his eyes as he growled.

His vision was blurry but eventually cleared enough to see who exactly was intruding in on his self-loathing.

He loosened his grip but didn't let go.

"Aeryn…"

He wasn't sure if he was hallucinating due to the alcohol or depression, but he didn't really care.

He pulled her in to his lap as he sat back down and just held her.

He wasn't sure when he started sobbing, or when she started to comfort him, but he was beyond caring.

She was holding his head against her neck as she just held him.

She was muttering something comforting while all he could do was blubber his apologies for everything.

He apologized for hurting Tali, for hurting Aeryn, for not searching for her when he knew he should have.

All she did was soothe him with words he was beyond understanding.

Eventually she coaxed him to move, to get up. He was a willing follower of wherever she wanted to lead.

She led him back to an apartment. He noticed it was small and sparsely furnished. A bed, a couch and a kitchenette. There were flowers placed on small tables and on the counters and it smelled like her.

Jasmine and vanilla he recalled distantly. From her home world.

She brought him to the bed and laid him down. She went to move away but he clung to her. He was too intoxicated to communicate what he wanted, but he could communicate silently enough by not letting her go.

She smiled softly and reached across the bed to the nightstand. She was holding something to his mouth… A glass of water? It felt strangely reminiscent of when she had taken care of him after he had drunk himself stupid after being forced to order troops to evacuate Palaven. He had been trying to save what he could, but it had never sat right with him. He had allowed the Reapers to overrun his home.

She had put the pieces back together then and she was going to do it now.

He wasn't intoxicated enough to assume that this was a gesture of future commitments. This was a peace offering.

He sipped the water and held her hand to his chest. Within seconds he was blissfully asleep, surrounded by the scent of the one woman who could set his world right again.

* * *

Aeryn had just finished another concert for Aria. She had to admit that it was getting easier to sing in front of the crowds and the added bonus of having a limitless tab at the bar was definitely helping.

Darius was off chasing skirt elsewhere. They had candidly discussed their relationship after they had finished relieving one another's stress.

He wanted more; she didn't. It was simple and he accepted it with humor. Though she doubted that would be the end of his attempts, at least now they knew where the other stood.

She had refused a few more offers for stress relief and had tried to keep things platonic.

She had been fantasizing about relaxing in her new apartment all evening. It was small, blissfully small.

She hated to inhabit large spaces by herself and the layout of the apartment allowed her to see the entire room no matter where she was.

She was about to head home for the night when word of a turian cleaning out the bar had caught her attention. A tall turian in full armor with blue colony markings.

Blue markings were rare outside of the Hierarchy and Palaven.

She had sighed inwardly and made her way to where the turian was purportedly camped out.

As she had suspected, it was Garrus.

She debated for a bit on whether she should intervene when she noticed that some of the other Mercs were eyeing him with a little too much interest.

She didn't even wait a heartbeat before heading over to him.

He was well and truly trashed. She had tried to get his attention by calling his name and talking to him, but he was beyond hearing anything but his own inner monologue.

And what a monologue it must have been.

She was trying to distract him with small touches and gentle caresses, but he wasn't having any of it.

She was semi prepared for his aggressive stance and staunch refusal for the removal of his liquor. She was not prepared to be leaned sideways over the table.

It took him longer than it should have for him to recognize her; he was drunker than she thought.

When he did finally recognize her he hauled her in to his lap and buried his face in her neck.

She struggled with simultaneously wanting to push him away and leave and with wanting to give him the comfort he so desperately needed.

Comfort won out.

She found her arms circling his neck and running her fingers over his scalp.

His tearful apologies broke her heart all over again. This wasn't the cocky, confident Garrus that she was used to. This was a different animal all together.

He was as bruised and broken as she was.

His tears were starting to dry up and his sobs were becoming more labored. She knew from personal experience that he was probably exhausted after such a venting of emotion and decided to take him to her house.

It was closer than the Normandy docking bay after all, and she didn't want the crew to see him like this.

Sure, and pyjacks flew.

She had maneuvered him in to her bed and was going to fetch him a fresh glass of water when he refused to let her leave.

She was going to try and argue with him, but he seemed resolute.

She had a half full glass on her nightstand from a few nights previous. He'd just have to deal with stale water.

He guzzled the water and eventually drifted off. He was looking at her until his eyes closed, clutching her hand to his chest.

When he was finally asleep she stood and pulled the blanket over him. She quickly typed up an accountability report to John so he wouldn't send out the hounds and made herself a cup of coffee.

She needed something to calm her nerves.

She was shaking with the force of emotions overwhelming her. She wasn't supposed to see him this soon after everything. She was going to give herself time to lick her wounds and build up her barriers.

She wanted to be emotionally detached when she saw him, but instead she was slipping back in to her old role.

She found herself on her couch and staring out her window into the void that was the rest of Omega.

She sat like that for hours. Well, her muscles told her it was hours. She wasn't really aware of anything.

She hadn't been thinking about anything that she could remember and she doubted it was anything of important. Cognitive dissonance at its best.

She hadn't noticed Garrus move from his uninterrupted sleep or his movement from the bed to the ground in front of her.

He was crouched in front of her, staring in to her unseeing eyes.

He pressed his forehead to hers and brought her attention back to the presence.

She closed her eyes and just let the feeling sink in. It was a nice feeling, a familiar feelings.

She sighed and pulled back, leaning in to the sofa.

"What do we do now Garrus, I can't… I can't just go back as if nothing happened."

* * *

Garrus had been elated that she hadn't rejected his affection and instead had leaned in to it. It wasn't until she pulled back and looked at him in sadness that he started to inwardly panic.

She said she couldn't go on as if nothing happened. He wracked his brain for a way around such a statement.

"Then let's start as if it has happened, and we're trying again."

He held her hand with one of his own and placed his free hand on her cheek.

"Let me court you, like you deserve. Let me win your trust again. Let me show you how much you mean to me."

She looked like she was going to say something and he placed a finger on her lips to prevent her from speaking.

"I'm not talking anything official or with titles. Just let me date you. Let me show you how dedicated I am to you."

She bit the tip of his finger and smirked at him.

"Ok… But no singing… I still haven't forgiven you for that time at that silly café on the presidium where you broke out in to a shitty rendition of 'One True Love' from Fleet and Flotilla."

Looking aghast he pulled his hand from her mouth and placed it over his heart, "That was my most romantic moment! The crowds and the applause… and the vids on the extranet!"

In truth he regretted doing that for weeks afterwards. He had gotten a call from his sister both scolding him for giving their father a heart attack by publicly showing that he was dating a human and then trying not to hysterically laugh at his serenade skills.

But if it got her back, he'd perform a live vid concert for the entire galaxy.

She had agreed to date him again, casually. He would work at whatever pace she wanted but it was definite progress.

Then a thought came to mind. "You haven't started casually seeing anyone else, have you? I don't want to put you in a weird situation."

She blushed and then cleared her throat and his heart sunk a bit.

"I have… Slept… With someone. I'm telling you because I don't want you to think I'm hiding anything. It was _that_ night. We've agreed to keep it casual and not repeat the performance, but there it is. Other than that, no one. I… I was waiting to see how it would be between us when we saw each other again."

He swallowed his hurt and nodded. He moved to sit next to her on her couch and pulled her against his side. He couldn't blame her after that night and he couldn't say that he wouldn't have done the same damn thing in the same position.

He reasoned his way around his hurt and eventually found solace in the idea that they had both had someone else and that they were working on this together.

His omnitool pinged a short message from John letting him know that they were departing in an hour for a mission. John ended the message with a weird symbol that looked like a sideways heart.

John Shepard was a weird man. He probably got laid. That or he found out where Garrus had spent the night.

"We're leaving in an hour… I will be in contact."

It was an awkward goodbye, but then again how did you say goodbye to someone who you were once engaged to, thought was dead, moved on from, and then found again? He wanted to do more than words but he didn't want to push too far too soon.

She surprised him when she walked him to the door and pulled him down to her level to touch her forehead to his… Before abruptly pushing him out of her door and closing it behind him.

He chuckled all the way back to the Normandy.

* * *

Darius sighed when he saw Aeryn and Vakarian leave together. He had been watching the other turian drink himself stupid for a few hours now. Aria was getting quite a kick out of it.

Apparently Vakarian was the infamous Archangel. At least that's what Aria was saying. Darius doubted it was true, but it was amusing none the less to see the other guards start to look uncomfortable.

Darius had his go with the human and she had abruptly shut down any further of his advances the next day when she said she wanted to keep it casual.

He understood her reasoning just as he understood her leaving with Vakarian tonight.

Just because he understood didn't mean he had to go quietly in to the night, nor did it mean that he couldn't make it harder for her to move on from him.

He smirked to himself as he winked at one of the asari dancers.

No, he would not go quietly and thanks to his rediscovered freedom it didn't mean that he had to be a saint either.

* * *

Dr. Tolorin's first plan had failed, miserably.

That was fine, he had a plan B.

He hadn't originally wanted to use plan B, but she was tying his hands. Plan B was risky and it could hurt his work.

It was a risk he was willing to take.

In a few weeks she would be coming to him willingly.


	10. Chapter 10

**Sorry for the delay! I was working overnights all week and couldn't get a chapter out until late this week AND my lovely Beta had a busy week as well. To make it up to you, double post tonight! Enjoy!**

* * *

Tali had been reviewing the footage of Aeryn she'd picked up almost religiously. There was a turian that she had spent the night with once, but she never went back. Tali knew it was a stretch to try and convince Garrus that there could be something going on there with only one video, but that wouldn't stop her from trying.

The night in question had been the same one where he was first reunited with Aeryn. The bosh'tet had just been reunited with her long lost love and then went to some other guys' apartment!?

Granted, Tali had taken the majesty of that night from her; it was her one consolation.

She knew that Garrus had slept over at Aeryn's apartment once and had visited on multiple occasions, though not for very long. Tali was able to look over Garrus' indiscretions given the confused state of mind he was in.

She would help to show him the way. The right way. The way to their future.

She hastily got to work on some footage editing to make the videos seem more incriminating. She also started to track the com chatter of the merc group who had initially tried to reacquire Aeryn - presumably for the people who had originally captured her.

Tali had to do something, she could see that Garrus was becoming more and more enamored with Aeryn. Well, re-enamored. Tali couldn't let him go to someone so wrong for him. Aeryn couldn't even eat the same food as him! Tali could. She could share meals with him and they had the same biology so they wouldn't need two different doctors, or two different medicines. One kind of everything.

If Tali had really thought about it, her reasons were petty and bordered on xenophobic (well, aminophobic) and even to her would seem flimsy at best. But her reasons were really the only things marking

Aeryn as "wrong" and therefore she held fast to them.

Tali was growing desperate and it was getting harder and harder to control herself around other people. She found herself alone in her quarters a lot of the time. It was easier when she was alone; she didn't have to check herself or worry about who might be watching or listening.

EDI had graciously agreed not to monitor Tali's room. Had the AI been watching, Tali would have most certainly heard from Shepard over her activities.

No, Tali needed to focus on her problem. Her human problem, so that she could then focus on building the life she always dreamed for her and Garrus.

It would be just like "Fleet and Flotilla". They would overcome adversity for one another. That adversity would bring them closer than any before them and they would have all the passion and love in the universe.

Tali just needed to get rid of their "adversity" as soon as possible so she could work on regaining lost ground.

* * *

Garrus sat back in his chair and read over the reports from their last mission. Some mining colony in the Traverse had been overrun by pirates and the Normandy stepped in to help out the colonists.

It was a standard affair of kill the bad guys, help the good guys, and watch Shepard have to deal with anti-Alliance colonists.

Garrus always got a little kick out of watching Shepard deal with those types of people. Here's Shepard, Savior of the Citadel, Hero of the Galaxy, purported Savior of all of Life, and he has to argue with whether or not the people he works for are of any use to these colonists.

Never mind that Shepard just saved their asses less than twenty-four hours ago, he still has to justify himself.

Garrus never understood how the paragon of human society could deal with these conspiracy nuts, but John Shepard did what had to be done. Even if his ground team were secretly wondering if he enjoyed the verbal abuse he got from people he was trying to "save" in some sort of masochistic fashion.

Garrus was pulled out of his musings by a message on his terminal. It was Aeryn. He had asked her out to lunch on the Citadel when they were both scheduled to be there. He was attending a Council meeting with Shepard and she was singing at some swanky party that Aria had managed to get invited to.

She had said yes and then suggested a restaurant – the one that John's clone had helped to destroy. Apparently they had just been renovated and reopened and she wanted to try the fish.

Who was he to say no? He had always wanted to try the place after everyone else had been so upset over John falling through the floor and ruining the fish tanks. Besides, it was rated as one of the "Most Romantic Restaurants" on the Citadel for a few years in a row prior to being unceremoniously wrecked.

Romantic was just what Garrus had in mind. He and Aeryn had been meeting up whenever their missions had crossed paths and he liked to think that they were making headway towards a solid reunion.

Aeryn had been hinting at feeling the same. She was agreeing to make vacation plans with him during the Normandy's next month long retrofit. She wanted to show him a spot on Earth that she had enjoyed as a kid and had managed to stay preserved throughout the years.

He was excited for that and for what the vacation symbolized. It was the same place they had agreed to go to in order to relax after the Reaper invasion. He saw it as a symbolic gesture towards full reconciliation and getting their lives back on track – together.

Garrus quickly started to make plans for after their meal, he was going to monopolize her for as long as he could get away with that day. He wanted everything to be perfect.

* * *

Aeryn had been primping for about an hour before she realized she was going to be late to her lunch with Garrus. She was singing later the next night at some sort of fundraiser that Aria had been invited to.

Aria probably bought her way in. It was a gathering of the wealthy and powerful and that, of course, included the Queen of Omega.

Aria had been making more of a name for herself since she reclaimed her asteroid and assisted with the war efforts. Hell, her assistance there gave her more credence to expand her empire into some "seemingly" more legitimate business ventures.

"Seemingly" being the key word. The fact that Aria was rubbing elbows with politicians and diplomats didn't really surprise Aeryn. Councilor Tevos had been on Aria's speed dial ever since Aeryn knew her. What surprised Aeryn was that Aria was actually using the opportunities presented to her by showing up on the Citadel.

Aeryn knew that she was just not being let in on the why's, but she didn't much care. Aria had no interest in being a council member… Aeryn stopped that thought right there.

If Aria had domination of Council space in mind, Aeryn wanted nothing to do with it. She certainly wasn't an Alliance die-hard anymore - if she ever had really been - but Aria as the supreme leader of everyone was a scary thought.

It probably wasn't anything so dramatic, but Aeryn was trying to distract herself from being nervous.  
Nervous about a date with her former-not-former-kind-of-still-official fiancé. She wanted to impress Garrus and maybe seduce him. She hadn't made up her mind on that last part yet.

Ok, yes she had. She had showered, primped, and put on her best underwear. She was trying to seduce him.

They had been seeing each other as often as they could and a lot of the time just ended up talking.

Talking about everything that they could think of. It was comforting and frustrating. It was downright maddening having him so close but not touching him.

She had needed time to heal and so did he. It had been weeks and she was certain that they were as healed as they were going to get apart. That isn't to say that she wanted to jump right back in to where they were, but she was ready to progress the relationship forward.

Aeryn quickly braided her hair to the side and applied her make up before pulling up her hood. She wasn't comfortable traipsing around the Citadel uncovered just yet. John was working on whether the Alliance would demand her re-entry into service and she didn't really want to have to deal with running from Alliance brass should she stumble upon someone who might care enough.

Aeryn rushed out of the hotel room when she realized she had five minutes to get from one arm of the Citadel to the other.

* * *

Garrus had reserved the table and used his connections with the Hierarchy and Shepard to get him a table on short notice. One towards the back with a view.

He was not disappointed as he was seated in a dark, cozy corner.

He ordered Aeryn's favorite wine and a glass of Palaven's finest for himself. He then proceeded to check his messages for the next ten minutes.

He was starting to get worried when the waiter brought Aeryn up. She was still covered head to toe, but had elected not to wear her tactical mask and left her face bare under her hood. She wasn't hiding her face from him and he realized that she probably would be a wanted woman to the Alliance had they realized she was still alive.

He didn't have much time to ponder on that thought, however, since as soon as Aeryn sat down in front of him her legs brushed against his multiple times and he could see her blush from under her hood.

So it was going to be that kind of a lunch date? Fantastic.

Garrus relaxed instantly and allowed himself to casually touch her frequently. If she wasn't going to hold back then neither was he. He was rewarded by returning touches and soft smiles.

After all of the hype of the restaurant, and his earnest desire to taste the food there, he didn't remember a bit of it.

Aeryn and he had been subtly touching and making inuendos all throughout the meal to the point where the meal was done all she had to do was mention her hotel room before he was practically rushing out of the restaurant.

It was a shame, but he had a feeling that they'd eat there again some other time.

* * *

Aeryn had been more nervous than she ever remembered being about flirting before. Maybe it was because she knew what she stood to lose should they not reconcile, but either way, the first few moment at the table she felt like she was in primary school again, trying to flirt with a boy for the first time.

Garrus didn't seem to notice her nervous behavior whatsoever, which was lovely. He was returning her touches and smiles almost immediately and it calmed her to the point where her mind began to wander to what other things they could be doing.

As Aeryn's back hit the wall of the elevator and she felt Garrus' mouth plates and tongue glide over her neck, her imagination no longer had to pick up the slack.

She was clinging to him with one of her legs propped up on his hip. He always growled so deliciously when she did that. Subtly squeezing and scratching across his opposite hip and along the back of his neck were her weapons in the battle of get-Garrus-to-the-hotel-room.

She felt she was succeeding given the fact that his hands were roving over any part of her he could get to.

Had the elevator not finally gotten to her floor when it did, the two of them might not have made it to the hotel room. But as it was, the elevator opened just as a moan left her lips.

The asari waiting to enter the elevator looked less than amused as Garrus picked Aeryn up and flung her over his shoulder.

She wasn't moving fast enough for him, apparently.

He grunted out, "Which room?" and then marched directly there.

Aeryn caught a glimpse of the asari just watching the scene slack jawed before she waved as they disappeared around a corner.

Aeryn started to giggle uncontrollably over the entire situation and as Garrus punched in the door code and entered her room. He dropped her on the bed and immediately started undressing himself.  
"I don't see what could possibly be funny in this situation. Clothes off now or I will remove them for you… And then you will need to go shopping. Actually that doesn't sound like a bad idea…"

He was smiling as he spoke so she was fully aware he knew exactly what was so damn funny, but at his proclamation of destruction in regards to her clothing she immediately started stripping down.

He was on top of her in less than a second once they were both undressed. He cupped her face and frowned, "I don't think I can be slow… Not right now." He said in lieu of an apology and all she could do was nod before saying, "You don't need to be…".

* * *

The first round of lovemaking was over entirely too soon for both of their liking. A few more sessions of quick, frantic and desperate sex thus followed.

Now Garrus was holding her close to him as he slowly worked around her body. She had new scars on top of the old ones and he wanted to make sure he remembered how to drive her wild. Not that he hadn't already been driving her wild for the past three hours.

His tongue ran over her neck, towards his mark, one that picked her out as his, and his chest swelled with pride. It was too soon into heir rebudding relationship to reapply the mark, but he was proud that he was able to put it there in the first place. He had her again, in his arms and in his bed. All he wanted to do was jump up and dance, but the lure of her was too strong.

He tasted every inch of her and ran his tongue over every new scar. His fingertips traced over every inch of her. Her own hands were roaming over every inch of him she could reach, but he wouldn't let her move too much.

He had lost her once to a fake death and now he was able to remind himself that she was alive in the most carnal way possible.

Eventually it was too much for each of them to endure solo and they joined once again to ride out the end of their passionate high.

He knew he called her name multiple times during his climax and her own calls for him only furthered his own rush.

When they finally fell asleep, she was draped on top of him with her face buried against his neck. The feeling was so comforting to Garrus that he fought sleep for a long time and just held her.

Everything was right in his world, he had his mate back.

* * *

_Incoming Message: __24:00__ Galactic Standard Time_

_Anonymous: I thank you, Ms. Z, for contacting me in regards to my missing property. I would need some further assurance from you of the authenticity of your offer; but once that is out of the way I would love to discuss with you my plan and how you may assist me._

Tali grinned at her omnitool screen. This was just what she had been waiting for. It had taken her much less time than she had anticipated to get in contact with the good Doctor and less time for him to respond.

Tali quickly typed up a response and further assurance via a meeting with his representative on the Citadel. She made known of the small window of time she would have to help him with his plan, but she had learned quite a bit of how he had planned to recapture Aeryn by listening in on the com chatter.

Tali had only grown more desperate when her surveillance drone had caught Aeryn and Garrus leaving the restaurant together and heading back to her hotel room. The drone had caught some rather steamy images of the two of them in the elevator before it lost them as the doors closed. It didn't take a genius to surmise where they were going and what they were going to do.

She just had two days to help him enact his plan. Two days of knowing Garrus and Aeryn were together in every sense of the word. Two days before she could start permanently removing Aeryn from Garrus' life.


	11. Chapter 11

**2nd one for the night! As always, thank you to icyfreezerpop and enjoy!**

* * *

Garrus awoke alone in the bed. It took a moment of panic to realize that the shower was on and after a deep breath, he got up and stretched.

He was sore in areas that only Aeryn had ever managed to work. She was the flexibility to his reach. He didn't even bother to get dressed before walking into the bathroom to lean against the wall and watch his human bathe.

There was something soft and calming about just watching her move. Every movement was efficient and somehow enticing. She didn't waste time on frivolous things, she just went right down to business.

He watched her muscles tense as she moved the sponge over her body, spreading the flowery scented foam over her skin.

He moved to the shower and stepped in. He knew that they didn't have much time before she had to be at the benefit, but he was certain that they could make some time again.

It always amazed him how he never got tired of her. Not before and definitely not now.

She jumped a bit, obviously not having noticed him watching her. She didn't even protest as he wrapped an arm around her waist to hoist her up against the wall.

Her legs wrapped around his waist as he kissed her in the way of her people and then his own as he entered her. The breath left his throat in a moan of pure bliss as he took his time loving her all over again.

* * *

As they were rinsing off the last remnants of their lovemaking, Aeryn looked up at Garrus through moist eyelashes and stepped closer to him.

"Would you want to come tonight? As my special guest? You don't have to… But I think I'd like you there…"

She was unsure of why she was so nervous asking him to watch her perform. The only time he had, to her knowledge, was when they were first reunited. That really wasn't a night she wanted to think much of.

She found herself looking at his chest while waiting for his answer, she was so nervous that it was hard to bring her gaze up in case he was hesitating because he didn't want to go… Or had other plans.

After a few tense moments she felt his finger under her chin as he forced her face upwards, forcing her to make eye contact.

"As what, Aeryn? Your' 'special' friend, or your boyfriend? Or just as a spectator?"

A blush crept up her neck and cheeks as she allowed herself to be put on the spot. She started fidgeting and looked anywhere but at his face. Jesus, why was this so hard to answer? She knew the answer she wanted. Fuck, she was ready to forgive the entire situation and just move on…

But she just couldn't yet. She kept feeling like she was waiting for the other shoe to drop. It had been too easy lately, she wasn't used to things going this smoothly. Hell, their first go of it they fought like wildcats pretty regularly. Not that they were violent, but they were passionate in their opinions and they had a tendency to not back down against the other.

It made the sex awesome.

Finally she sighed and blew some water running over her face towards him.

"As my boyfriend."

She stared up at him as she answered, challenging him to do something about it. She wasn't sure if he was going to be mad at her hesitation or if he was going to try and plant a badly timed joke. Either she was prepared for.

Instead he dropped his forehead to her shoulder and licked her skin softly. "I would be honored…" He then wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close against him and just held her for a bit. The gesture was not sexual in the least and it seemed, to her anyways, that a burden was lifting off of him.

After only a few seconds he left the shower and tossed a towel in after him – smacking her in the face.

She sputtered a bit before turning the water off and following him.

"What was that for?!" She demanded in a mock-haughty voice.

It had been so long since she had someone to just play with.

"Giving me a heart attack, Woman! I thought you were going to tell me you used me for my body and were going to throw me out on sight!"

He bellowed the answer, but there was no heat behind it. She found herself just cackling at the image his statement brought forth.

A wham-bam-thank-you-ma'am as it were. She started to wipe herself down as she continued to chuckle.

He shot her a disapproving glower as he dumped his towel in the laundry receptacle, "I'm glad my discomfort seems so hilarious to you."

He left the bathroom and moved in to the main bedroom, presumably to get dressed as she recomposed herself and finished her own drying.

Turians really were lucky that they had minimal prep work. Humans had to dry, apply moisturizer, makeup, etc… All he did was dry off and get dressed while occasionally having his face paint-stain reapplied.

Lucky sorts.

She followed him out, naked with her hair flowing down her back.

"Yeah well, you seemed entirely too confident this morning. I couldn't be the only one nervous."

She waggled her eyebrows as she delivered her retort. He was mid pant-pull and had stopped bent over and was just staring at her incredulously.

"Is this what I'm signing up for!? Spirits save me!"

He fell back on to the bed as he said that in the most dramatic fashion she had ever seen. It rivaled that of her middle school "Romeo and Juliet" performance. The sputtered laughter was all that he got in response from her as she attempted to gather her clothes for the performance.

He interrupted her by wrapping his arms around her waist and dragging her next to him on the bed. He ran his talons over her face and just looked into her eyes for a long moment. He seemed to want to say something but thought better of it. He pressed his forehead against her for a moment and then pushed her off the bed gracelessly.

"Quit tempting me Woman, put some clothes on before I make sure we aren't leaving this room for at least a week."

He moved off the bed and continued to get dressed, albeit a bit more gingerly than before. She smiled from her perch on the floor and sighed happily as she watched him move.

Perfect, it was becoming perfect again.

Her omnitool beeped a 45 minute warning and she cursed and began to rush through getting ready.

Dress on, make up done and hair done in record time (a skill she had mastered while infiltrating different rogue regimes) she walked out of the bathroom with everything except her mask on.

Garrus was dressed in his casual black and white suit. She loved that suit. She wondered how he had grabbed it so fast, but then realized that the man was a proverbial MacGyver and probably had the thing in one of the storage canisters in his armor.

She grabbed the black sequined Mardi Gras style mask and placed it securely on her face before eyeing

Garrus softly from behind the mask.

"How do I look?"

* * *

He stared at her for a solid two minutes before answering, his eyes roaming over her from head to toe.

He cleared his throat and touched her waist softly.

"You know you look amazing… And I'm going to have to thank Aria for her design skills."

"Don't you dare! The next outfit she designs for me will probably just be straps and pasties! And I like to hear you say it, makes me feel good."

Garrus knew he was going to regret asking, but the question was going to plague him otherwise… "What are 'pasties'?"

She turned bright red and just brought up an image on her omnitool.

Garrus just stared at the image… The woman on it had red nipples… Then he realized that they weren't her nipples but rather some sort of accessory.

He mentally made a note to do his own research on these pasties. For science.

"Ah… I see. Yes well, I wouldn't want you to have to wear that in public."

She punched his arm softly and then offered her own to him for them to leave.

Garrus was never much for parties, but John was there with Liara (Savior of the universe and all), which made the party just bearable.

He had just joined his friends near a large window with a good view of the stage when a hand tapped his shoulder.

It was Primarch Victus. He and Victus chatted for a bit before an announcer called everyone's attention to the stage.

Aeryn was spectacular. She didn't edit her songs for the difference in audience from Omega to the Citadel and he found himself admiring her more for it. He heard a human woman complain to her companion about how the song subject matter wasn't necessarily appropriate.

To her partners credit he told her it was a beautifully sung song and Garrus found his attention focused backed on the stage.

He wasn't the only one who was appreciating the lithe human singing on the stage in a vibrant red gown. He was amazed that, as revealing as the dress was, her scars were completely covered. Her tattoos, however, were not.

He wondered if it was a sign that she was gradually becoming more comfortable with her new role in galactic politics – or the lack there of. A "fuck you" to those who would be looking for her, as it were.

In transition between songs, she sought him out and made eye contact. Spirits she was singing just for him. It was a more romantic and gentle song than she had been previously known for and he felt his heart constrict pleasantly as he absorbed the lyrics.

It was a song about loving beyond youth and trusting that he would love her despite age. He felt himself flush as he just stood enraptured.

Victus was trying to say something to him but Garrus was beyond listening. He wondered how long ago she had written this song; he had never heard it before. If there was any doubt as to who she was singing about it left him the moment she absently touched the part of her shoulder that his mark was planted.

He wanted to drag her off the stage and replant the mark all over again but a hand on his arm brought him back to the present situation just as her song was ending.

"So, Vakarian… How is the quarian you've been seeing? What's her name? Zorah something?"

Garrus took a sip of his drink and calculatingly eyed his Primarch, "Tali'Zorah, and we are no longer together." Garrus had always had a good relationship with Victus. Hell, he and the Primarch considered each other friends in a manner of speaking; but he wasn't certain he wanted to admit that his supposed-to-be-dead bondmate was the one singing on stage in front of them.

* * *

Victus nodded and looked back to the woman on the stage and to the trusted General next to him.

There was something familiar about her and about how Vakarian was staring at her as if the sun rose and set according to her words.

It reminded Victus of the young human Vakarian had been betrothed to before the end of the war. But that woman had died, that was what lead to Vakarian and the quarian. Victus listened to the woman sing another song, she certainly had a unique voice. He had no idea humans had such a vocal range and he would be lying if he said it wasn't pleasing.

He eyed Vakarian again and decided to go with his gut. If he was wrong then he could just apologize, but he had a feeling there was more to this woman and the situation than met the eye.

"She reminds me of Shepard's sister."

Victus noticed the way Vakarian tensed as he downed the rest of his drink. He watched the other turian stare at the woman for a moment longer before making eye contact.

"She is quite similar, isn't she?"

Victus nodded and kept his smug 'ah ha' to himself. He was able to read between the lines. He wasn't sure he wanted to know how the younger Shepard was still alive despite every report he had read saying she had died in a crash back down to her home planet. But the fact that Garrus was nervous around the line of questioning and the fact that the woman wasn't showing her full face…

Victus patted Garrus' shoulder. "Don't worry son, I don't really want details. But if you're sure, I'm happy for you."

It was as honest as the Primarch had gotten to be in months. He liked Vakarian and if his bondmate was alive and well and they were together, well he truly didn't care for the details.

* * *

Garrus was surprised Victus had picked up on it so quickly, though he shouldn't have been. The man was a talented politician despite his claims otherwise. He just nodded and mumbled a "thank you" as he looked back up to Aeryn on stage.

Her mini concert was over and the announcer was droning on about donations and political motivations that he didn't hear.

He made his way to the stage and offered his hand to her as the rest of the patrons were moving to the dance floor to congregate and, well, dance.

She looked at him for a moment, surprised, and then took his hand.

He had danced with her once before in public and drew upon those skills again as he held her close. He said nothing for a long while and she seemed disinclined to open conversation either. He was just happy.

Finally he remembered something he had wanted to say, "You know that even when you are old, I will still love you. I will always love you."

She didn't answer him, just pressed her forehead against his shoulder. He didn't really need words after listening to the song she wrote. He held her close as the song finished. She whispered to him that she had to mingle with Aria's group and that she would meet him at the entrance to the ball room.

He went to talk with John to pass the time until the end of the benefit. John slapped Garrus on the arm and muttered some congratulatory words in regards to Aeryn and they moved in to bitching about the politicians they found themselves surrounded by. Garrus spent the rest of the night like that, stealing glances at Aeryn as he just enjoyed himself.

* * *

Aeryn and Garrus had left the benefit right about when she thought they would. She had met with DT's agent and had gotten the serum that was supposedly going to rid her of her 'vermin' problem.

She had given her idea for the administration with minimal suspicion and the good Doctor had agreed to allocate one of his mercs for her plan.

She wished she knew the man's name so that when she was singing his praise as she reclaimed her turian she would have something more than 'doctor' or 'DT'. He wanted it that way though, so she didn't push it.

She had changed her suit to add different colors and adornments. Looking at herself in the mirror she had to admit that even she wouldn't recognize herself if she had not been the one to dress herself.

It was nice how much a quarian could change with minimal effort. She altered her voice speaker as well so that if she did have to speak she would sound different.

She had complete faith that this would work and as she slid the hypodermic needle into her arm pouch, she smiled as she left the hotel room she had rented to get ready.

DT had said it would take a few days to fully take effect, so Garrus would have one final round with his beloved before she would be taken from him. The effects would crescendo right as Aeryn returned to Omega and she and Garrus were far away on another mission.

The timing couldn't be more perfect.

She waited in the hall until she saw Garrus and Aeryn round the corner. She signaled to the merc to start chasing her and she made her way frantically down the crowded walkway. She loved that the Citadel was busy no matter what time it was. It was perfect cover.

She made a show about stumbling and slowly worked the needle into her hand as she closed the distance to her target. They didn't even notice her.

She stumbled again and slammed right in to Aeryn, knocking her over. Simultaneously she jabbed the needle into Aeryn's side and pushed the plunger down.

She immediately got back up while hiding the needle against her wrist and profusely apologized before taking off again, the merc hot on her heals.

The entire delivery took less than thirty seconds. Tali kept running as euphoria rushed over her. She didn't even notice the merc get tackled by John.

Perfect.


	12. Chapter 12

**As always, thank you to my lovely Beta for editing everything for me!**

It had been a little under a week since Aeryn had returned to Omega and things had only gotten worse.

At first it had just been some light headedness - but now it was full on blackouts and coughing blood.

Aria had insisted that Aeryn see her private doctor. Much to Aria's displeasure, the brilliant salarian had no real idea on how to cure or even treat Aeryn.

Manufactured bioweapon. That's how he described whatever it was she had contracted – no, what she had been injected with.

The wound Aeryn had gotten from the quarian who had run in to her on the Citadel had ached at first and Aeryn thought little of it. The quarian had been apparently running for her life from a merc; at least that's what Aeryn had originally thought. A complete accident.

Now with her puncture wound festering and infected veins streaming away from the tiny hole… Aeryn realized that she fell victim to another plot.

She knew who was behind it, too. Dr. Tolorin was the only person she knew of who would infect her with one of his compounds. Probably in hopes that she would return to him for the cure.

He was sadly correct. Aeryn had been contemplating it since her last black out spell. She had awoken to being unable to breathe properly. Chunks of clotted blood had eventually ejected from her throat and the salarian announced that while he was certain he could find a cure – he wouldn't be able to do it before she had died.

She had been good about keeping her predicament from Garrus for a while, but he was more astute even through vid call than she had realized.

He knew she was sick, but she had managed to keep the severity from him.

"_Aeryn, are you going to check yourself in to a medical center?"_

_It had been an ongoing question for the past two days. He couldn't be there yet as they were across the galaxy on a mission. _

_She had just worked out a solution with Aria and Darius were adamantly against her plan until the doctor had said he couldn't manufacture a cure in time to save her._

_She flinched at the question and nodded, speaking softly and carefully as to not break out in to a coughing fit again._

"_Yeah, I'll send you how to get in touch with me after the call. It's a lot to say."_

_Garrus had witnessed a few of her coughing fits and knew that it was important that she not talk too much. He had reiterated his love for her and ended the call moments later after requesting that she rest._

He was worried and she hated to admit that he had every reason to be.

Aeryn typed up her mail to both Garrus and John. She had it on a delayed send so that they wouldn't try to talk her out of it. They couldn't, and they were much too far to stop her… But she didn't want to have to try and justify something that she knew was the only way.

They hadn't dealt with Dr. Tolorin. They didn't know how serious he was about his 'property'.

"_No Aeryn! Absolutely not! It's suicide!" Darius exclaimed. He was furious and Aria seemed to be fuming, abnormally quietly in the corner._

_Aeryn sighed and brought up the empty syringe._

"_If I don't try I'm dead. If I try and we succeed, you and the Normandy will be able to retrieve me. Aria's doctor has already said that if the tracker is completely undetectable unless you're looking for its specific signature. They probably won't even scan me until I'm on the planet so at least you can get the general location."_

_She swallowed hard again in an attempt to stop from coughing again. It was getting worse and she didn't want to blackout before explaining her plan._

_Darius went in to another tirade as Aeryn hung her head. Her breathing was getting more ragged the longer she tried to keep from coughing. Just concentrating on her breath was enough to distract her from Darius' angry words._

_Aria finally made a move and walked over to Aeryn, placing her hand on the ill woman's shoulder._

"_I'm going to hold you to the promise that this will work, Aeryn. Failure is not an option and will be intolerable."_

_Aeryn just nodded and the asari turned back towards Darius, "She's right, as much as I hate to admit it. _

_I've never seen anything advance as fast as this and be this debilitating without killing her. It's manufactured and if this asshole is as arrogant as Aeryn thinks than her plan is the best one."  
She looked back down at Aeryn, "Do you want to tell Shepard, or shall I?"_

_Aeryn shook her head, "I will. I'll send the message with the particulars of the tracker and how to find me. I'll also encrypt it so that only they'll know how to get in to the message – a password of sorts. I can't trust anyone beyond you two, John and Garrus. The entire crew of the Normandy knew where I would be, as did our entourage from here. I want to keep this just between us if possible."_

_Aria nodded, as much as she hated to admit it, the human was right and they couldn't trust anyone with this information._

Aeryn sighed as she finished the message and set the encoding. She included the same warning she had given Aria in regards to keeping this entire situation under wraps. She knew John would have a harder time with that than Aria did.

John handpicked his crew, he trusted them with his life. He wouldn't want to believe one of them could betray him like this… And maybe they hadn't. Maybe Doctor Tolorin had more reach and knowledge than she had known… But she had a feeling that it was much deeper than that.

She didn't know who to trust.

Aeryn didn't even bother with her hood as she set the message timer and got up to leave. She bundled herself in a sweater and moved out of her apartment without looking back.

* * *

John's message terminal alert silently went off. He had set it to silent when he and Liara had gone to bed.

It was their date night and he wasn't going to be distracted by Alliance messages and issues in the Terminus Systems.

John was too engrossed in 'embracing eternity' to notice the soft green light pulsating on the other side of his cabin.

It wasn't until someone was pounding on his door that John finally pulled himself away from his lover and began to come back to the present.

* * *

Garrus had been asleep when the droning light started its impulsive display. He hadn't been sleeping well with the knowledge that Aeryn was sick – sicker than she was trying to let on.

Garrus lie in bed for a few minutes before getting up and moving to his desk to retrieve the message.

Huh. It was encoded. The apparent pass code was the answer to a riddle.

It was a riddle that Garrus' father had used to use on him when he wanted Garrus to pay attention in order to get something.

He hadn't told anyone about the riddle – anyone except for John and Aeryn.

Garrus hastily typed in the answer and read the horror novel in front of him.

He hastily closed the message and closed the encryption before bolting up towards John's cabin.

* * *

John barely had enough time to slip in to his boxer briefs before Garrus had hacked the door and busted through.

John let out a surprised and mildly angry shout before Garrus moved over to his private terminal and brought up a message.

It was waiting for John to enter something.

"This had better be good Garrus!"

John stormed over to the desk, knowing that Garrus wouldn't be calming down until John at least looked at the message.

It wasn't like Garrus to be this rude or impulsive, and once John got over his initial annoyance he finally was able to read the riddle in front of him.

It was one of John and Aeryn's childhood pass questions to get in to their fort in the field behind their house.

His gut bottomed out when he typed the answer and began to read over the message.

_John and Garrus,  
I am writing this because, as you know, I've been sick. What you don't know is that this is not a regular illness nor was it received via natural means._

_I was injected with a virus when that runaway quarian knocked me down on the Citadel._

_I have had a doctor look in to manufacturing a cure, or a treatment, or something with no real success._

_This is Doctor Tolorin's work. This is what he is best at. I don't know how, or by what means, but he managed to get an agent on the Citadel and infected me so that I would return to him for the cure._

_The doctor I've been seeing is ex-STG and worked with Mordin. He said that while he is almost as brilliant as Mordin was (can you imagine any salarian saying that they weren't the best at something?!) in bioengineering, even he could not figure out a cure until I had already succumb to the disease._

_So, unfortunately, I am going to give myself up to Tolorin's mercs._

_I've included the transponder signal for the tracker I have injected into my body._

_I know you two will be upset, but please believe me that there is no other way – this is how the disease was manufactured to work._

_Please be careful, only a few people knew I was on the Citadel and singing at that benefit that night. I hate to call in to question anyone under your command, John, but I feel as if there is a mole either within your people or Aria's._

_Aria is dealing with the people who knew on her end._

_Please only tell those you trust of this. Contact Aria when you are ready to start your pursuit._

_I love you both._

_Please come find me._

_- Aeryn._

John just sat there for a moment. Liara had taken the cue from the expressions on both John and Garrus' face and had taken advantage of their distraction with what was on the screen to get dressed and to look over their shoulders.

She gasped at the letter and then sighed.

She understood Aeryn's reasoning and also understood that John and Garrus might not.

Before she could comfort John, he interrupted her thoughts.

"EDI, monitor everyone's communication both incoming and going out from this ship. Everyone's, no exceptions. If there are any unusual or suspicious contacts – people out of the blue, messages that seem to be in code, or messages to someone not in a system we have recently visited, you are to copy the messages and alert me immediately."

EDI's voice echoed over the quiet room, "Yes Shepard… I have, for privacy, elected to not monitor certain living quarters. Would you like me to now monitor everyone without fail?"

"Yes, EDI."

EDI paused for a moment, probably turning on observation software, before announcing, "Then I would like to inform XO Vakarian that Tali is currently trying to access his terminal."

* * *

Garrus was stunned to the point where John and Liara were the first to react by going towards the elevator. Garrus followed once his brain clicked back on.

What was Tali trying to access his terminal?

Garrus followed John in to his quarters and eyed the obviously flustered Tali.

John wasted no time before getting in to the interrogation, "Tali, what are you doing?"

She fidgeted for a moment before straightening her back, "I believe that is between Garrus and me."

Garrus sighed, a headache was starting to build, this could not be happening right now. "Tali, whatever you have to say you can say it in front of John and Liara."

She seemed startled that Garrus wasn't immediately jumping to her defense and she pulled up some footage of Aeryn and another turian – the Talon leader, Darius.

The footage was shoddy at best and was depicting the two of them in less-than-desirable situation.

Garrus fought his initial urge to be angry at Aeryn, remembering that she had told him of her one-time romance with the gang leader.

In fact, the more he watched the videos the more he realized that all of the advances were from the gang leader and, knowing Aeryn's body language, she was refuting him.

Garrus let out an annoyed growl, "Tali, I appreciate your concern but there is nothing to worry about."

He was going to say something else mundane and reassuring when she broke out in to hysterics. "What do you mean 'nothing to worry about'?! She's cheating on you Garrus! She's leading you along while she's off fornicating with that other turian!"

He slammed his fist on his desk and glared at the other woman. "No, she is not! Tali, I said I appreciate your concern, but what I do not appreciate is you making something out of nothing. Aeryn is my bondmate, my future wife, and I will not allow you to spread lies about her!"

* * *

Tali was in shock. Garrus had just yelled at her! He had hit his desk out of anger – at her! She knew the video evidence wasn't anything, but he wasn't supposed to know that!

She couldn't think of anything else to do so she just whimpered and ran from the room.

She knew that Garrus would feel bad and eventually come talk to her; she was counting on it.

For him to be this stressed and easily aggravated then DT's plan had to be progressing according to plan.

She moved in to her quarters and sent an inquiry to DT to see if her assistance was beneficial. She needed some reassurance that things were indeed going according to plan.

* * *

Darius watched the security footage of Aeryn as she left her apartment and stumbled towards the lower docks.

He clenched his desk as she went to her knees several times. She hadn't told him nor Aria that she was leaving today – but he knew her well enough to keep an eye on her.  
He watched her fall to her knees one final time while looking off camera. Her lips moved, she was saying something, and then she doubled over in a coughing fit.

A burly looking human walked to her and offered her his hand.

He was in the same uniform as the previous mercs; he was one of the Doctor's men.

She went to take his hand and broke out into a more violent coughing fit before the man bent over and, surprisingly enough, gently lifted her and carried her off to a cargo ship.

Darius watched as the ship departed with his sick friend and he suddenly felt the need to throw up.

Had all of these months been for nothing?

* * *

Aeryn awoke in a stark white room.

Did these people ever paint?!

She was right-side up, her arms splayed out to her sides and she was supported in various locations via straps and hoists.

There were tubes going in to her veins in both of her arms, a feeding tube in her stomach and a vial of black, viscous, liquid to her left.

She couldn't talk, her lips wouldn't move. She had an oxygen mask over her face, but it didn't feel as if that were the reason for her lack of vocal control.

She looked around the room and her eyes landed on Tolorin's assistant, a tall and slender woman with orange-red hair and black eyes. She would be attractive if she didn't always look so severe. Aeryn couldn't remember her name, Tolorin never spoke it and his assistant didn't really introduce herself to their subjects.

"You can't move because we've injected you with a paralytic. Luckily it also impedes your ability to talk. We found your tracking chip – clever. I can't say I won't enjoy seeing the look on your brother's face when he sees what we've made you. Just to be perfectly clear, they will be too late to save you."

Aeryn wanted to scream, kick, cry, do something. But all she could do was watch the woman as she moved to the vial of black and start to inject it in to one of her tubes… The black liquid mixing with her fluids and entering her blood stream.

Bugs, it felt like tiny bugs crawling under her skin. She managed to make a strangled whimper as the sensation overwhelmed her.

The assistant spoke again, detached and if she were explaining it to a child.

"Nanites. They will enter your blood stream and allow us to control your muscle movements. This includes your voice and attacks. We gave you a chance to work for us willingly and you rudely declined. Now you have no choice. You will now spend the rest of your life as our puppet."


	13. Chapter 13

**This chapter and the next chapter are going to be some longer ones - somewhat due to the part in the story and partially because I feel a bit bad making you wait a few days in between chapters :). As always, thanks icyfreezerpop for your suggestions and editing skillz! I greatly appreciate both!**

**Please review and enjoy!  
**

* * *

The tension on the Normandy was palpable to the three who knew that the ship was under surveillance.

To the rest of the crew, it was business as usual. To a sharp point. No one missed that Shepard, Liara and Garrus had been tense for the past few days.

Word had spread that something had happened to set them off but none of the crew knew specifically what had happened. The more in-the-know crew thought that something had happened to Aeryn. The crew members who were unaware that Shepard's sister was alive thought that perhaps a mission had gone badly or an old member of the crew was having issues.

The only crew member who didn't seemed phased by the attitude of the higher command was Tali. She would make excuses to the gossiping crew for their commander and his XO's attitudes, citing stress and a harsh workload.

Most of the crew were starting to believe her. Everyone except for Joker. Joker was starting to distrust Tali more and more with every passing day. She was too calm, too composed.

Joker knew that Tali was one of the few on the crew that knew that Aeryn was indeed alive.

EDI had said that Aeryn was missing and that she was monitoring the crew for Shepard. Under any other circumstances, Joker would have been put out by Shepard's plan… But not now. Not knowing that someone on the crew might be responsible.

Joker had always liked Aeryn and the thought of something else bad happening to her was not something that made him happy.

Aeryn was one of the few crew members to come and talk with him regularly. Hell, after she caught him talking her up like some damned porn model she treated him like they had been friends forever.

She was easy to get along with and he never had to explain anything to her in regards to his humor nor his disability.

If Tali was the one responsible, Joker would be hard pressed to feel sorry for her no matter what Shepard decided to do.

* * *

"Shepard, I have compiled a list of strange activities among the crew, one stands out as particularly suspect."

John's head shot straight up and he looked at his private terminal screen.

"EDI, bring up the evidence on my screen."

It was a series of messages between a DT and a TZ. John's stomach dropped instantly. It didn't take a rocket scientist to know whose initials TZ were as only one person on his ship had those initials.

They were talking about a plan that had succeeded. Aeryn's illness according to both Aeryn and Aria was manufactured. It was not naturally contracted but instead injected in to her.

Garrus had confirmed the puncture wound on Aeryn's abdomen, but Aeryn had characteristically told him that it was nothing and probably an accidental wound from the suit of the quarian who had run in to her.

A quarian was the one that had inflicted the wound in which Aeryn most likely contracted the disease and the likely suspect on his ship was a quarian.

John didn't like where the connecting dots were pointing. He didn't like it one bit.

John called Garrus and Liara up to his cabin to discuss his findings and his disheartening theory.

John was sitting at his desk still when the two of them entered his room. Liara had been doing her own searching but she had elected to let EDI do most of it – EDI had been feeling a little underutilized lately.

John didn't mention his theory, he just had the two of them read over the messages and apply their own knowledge and judgment. Judging from the sudden tenseness in both of his companions' shoulders, they were coming to same conclusion he had.

Garrus was actually growling and under any other circumstances, John would probably found it hilarious that turians actually growled. As it was, he found it oddly comforting – Garrus was just as pissed as John was, if not more. The animal-like noises coming from Garrus were merely sensory examples of the same feelings John himself was having.

Garrus was gripping John's desk so hard John was scared that he was going to break it. Luckily Garrus released the desk and took a step back in an apparent attempt to calm himself.

Liara had been watching Garrus while fidgeting with her hands. She was nervous, yet anxious to talk, but deemed giving Garrus time to calm down.

Garrus broke the silence first after finally making eye contact with John.

* * *

"So it was Tali who set Aeryn up." The words leaving Garrus' lips didn't make him feel any better. The whole thing seemed ludicrous. His ex-girlfriend offing his current girlfriend via a bioweapon engineered specifically to take her out.

John sighed and Garrus just stood there.

"That's what it appears to be, Garrus… You know her better than anyone, is this something Tali is capable of? I know she's changed a lot over the years, but to go this far?"

Garrus thought about it for a good minute before answering. Ask him the same question a month ago and he would have said no… But Tali had been acting strange since Aeryn came back.

It always seemed more to Garrus than Tali readjusting to life without them as a pair. After she would inquire as to how Aeryn was, or how their last date had been, she would always seem to be tense after the answer.

He couldn't understand her asking either. It didn't seem normal to him to be so concerned with your ex and their current partner, even if their partner was their old, presumed dead, partner.

But Tali had been hiding herself away a lot down in the engineering cargo hold.

"I really don't know John… I mean, she's been different lately. But who wouldn't be after all that she had been through? But this… This type of scheming I wouldn't normally think her capable of. But then again those are her initials… Could it be someone else on the crew trying to frame her for it?"

Garrus thought about that for a solid minute after asking it and then applied his own opinion before John could interject.

"No, I don't suppose it could be. It was a quarian who knocked her down on the Citadel. And Tali has the most motive out of everyone to do something like this against Aeryn."

John nodded and then asked the question that needed the quickest decision.

"So what do we do about this? I for one, at the moment, feel like simply shooting her in the head and airlocking her… But even with this betrayal she still is an honorary admiral of the flotilla… and I don't think it would really accomplish much – except make me feel better."

The thought of shooting Tali was both soothing and repulsive to Garrus and he was having a hard time finding a healthy medium between the two emotions. Then a thought came to him.

"While I think Tali's time aboard the Normandy is drawing to an abrupt close, we still have the issue of Aeryn. We don't want her to tip the Doctor and his mercs off that we're on our way. We could place a communication ban on the entire ship and have it so EDI doesn't allow any outgoing transmissions, but even that might not be foolproof enough."

Garrus' gut churned at the idea of Tali tipping off Tolorin that they were on their way. They had managed to keep it quiet as to where they were headed and Joker was the only other one on the ship who knew – for obvious reasons.

John seemed to think it over and nodded. "We'll put her in the brig and remove her extranet access. EDI can you put a ban on extranet use for everyone on the ship starting immediately."

EDI confirmed the order and John signaled to the rest of them to move.

* * *

John ordered James and Cortez to meet them at the Engineering level. He wanted back up in case there was resistance. Both James and Cortez had been close to Aeryn when she was on the Normandy before.

Aeryn had spared with James regularly and had helped Cortez through some emotional issues when the Reapers were still attacking. She was a little sister to them as much as John.

Garrus was quiet the entire way down and stayed towards the back of the group as they entered Tali's hold.

It was ironic to John that Tali chose Jack's old hideout as her place to betray him and those he loved. Jack always threatened it but never actually followed through – Tali said she was a great friend and would always be there in times of need, and she did do it.

Luckily for John, Tali was completely unsuspecting of their arrival and they seemed to catch her mid message. She immediately jumped from her cot and looked like she was debating between attacking and crying. It was hard to tell with the mask.

"Shepard, what's going on?! What's happened?" She chimed easily enough, the concern in her voice sounding real if not a little flat.

"Tali, I am going to give you this one chance to be completely honest with me and it may make the difference in how I handle this situation. What level of participation did you have in Aeryn's illness and subsequent capture?"

Tali instantly started fidgeting and she moved around while obviously trying to get a good look at Garrus. To his credit, Garrus remained stoic and still throughout the entire ordeal, though John noticed the turian's fist curling and uncurling frequently.

"I don't…" Tali started to say, but John quickly ended her play at innocence, "We have your message logs Tali, I've had EDI monitoring the crew for a few days now."

Tali didn't hesitate to try and deflect the situation from her back to John as she looked to James and Corez, "And you're ok with him just monitoring us at his will, like his prisoners!?"

"Sparks, I don't much care if he monitors us when something like this happens. Aeryn was more than a friend, she was family. A viper in the house needs to be taken care of." James intoned automatically and Cortez simply nodded.

Again Tali looked like she might make a move against John but then thought better of it. She simply hung her head and nodded.

"I was the one who set her up on the Citadel, and I injected her with the compound."

It startled John that she'd confessed so easily, but then again, what else was she to do? The only other person on the ship who would possibly have her back was standing silently behind John as he brought his accusations forward.

"Does Tolorin know that we're headed to the base to get Aeryn?"

Tali was obviously surprised by this, apparently in her obsession with destroying Aeryn she hadn't been too focused on the ship's trajectory; that or she didn't know where Tolorin's base was.

"N-no, I didn't even know that… It's dangerous, are you sure you want to do that?"

John leveled the most pissed off, angry, vile glare he could muster at Tali as she asked that. He knew she was more concerned with them actually finding and retrieving Aeryn than their safety.

"Yes, I am sure that I want to rescue my baby sister from the man who is conducting vile experiments on her and who was apparently aided by one of my most trusted crew members and friend. James, Cortez, take her to the brig and make sure to remove her omni tool. We will be dropping her off at Omega after we get Aeryn back and allowing Admiral Zorah to find her own way back to Rannoch."

John noted that Tali had the good sense to flinch as he spoke, but he didn't wait around for a response as he turned on heel and left the hold. Liara was quick in his wake, but Garrus had apparently stayed behind.

* * *

Tali had called after Garrus as he was about to leave with John and Garrus decided that he wanted to hear what she had to say.

James and Cortez were removing her omnitool and placing her in cuffs. James looked curiously at Garrus when he realized the man wasn't leaving, but didn't say anything.

Garrus found that he wasn't as perturbed by the sight of Tali in cuffs as he thought that he would be.

"Garrus help me! You can't let them do this, think of all that we could have had!"

Garrus couldn't stop the feral growl that escaped his throat as she tried to play the romance card with him. She was now single-handedly responsible for the danger the woman who meant more to him than life was currently in! He stalked up to her and sneered into her mask.

"You are dead to me. How dare you speak to me of futures in pity and sympathy? You gave none to Aeryn and you most certainly have not given any to me. It's as if your very essence is a black hole; you take everything in and give nothing, NOTHING, back. I pity anyone who even remotely cares about you. I hope they eventually see that you are nothing but a monster behind that pretty little mask of yours."

He left to the chorus of her sobs and the grunts of James and Cortez as they were suddenly found bearing all of her weight, dragging her to the brig on the Normandy.

* * *

Aeryn found herself standing for probably the twentieth time today. They were showing her, yet again, that she couldn't fight the nanites. It was starting to just get boring. She had already gone through anger, frustration, hopelessness… Now she was just bored.

Yeah, she got it. She had no control over her movements – fuck, she couldn't even talk when the nanites were activated.

The scientists were very cautious as not to say how they were controlling the little fucking bugs, but Aeryn guessed via radio signal or something similar.

They could turn them, and thusly her, off with the flip of the proverbial switch. She found her muscles and biotics could be completely controlled; she was a fucking puppet.

She had been here only a few days and they had already rendered her useless.

Curing the illness she had? Took a few days. Tolorin and his assistant had the cure ready and waiting and it just took a few days of puking her guts out to get the infection out.

After that they knocked her out, strung her up like the bloody crucifix and then effectively neutered her.

She wasn't very appreciative of their healing efforts at this point. She felt like shouting "Yay, I can breathe!" at first, but now she just felt like going on a brain-dead massacre of everyone on this base.

The merc that had originally found her and had been rather careful of her had apparently taken it upon himself to be her personal caretaker. That or Tolorin had assigned him to her – a permanent guard of sort.

He was going to die first. He acted like he was helping her, like he was her savior, all the while he held her down for her shots and watched dispassionately as they injected more bugs in to her system while saying 'It's better this way'. Fucking no it isn't!

The doctors were giving each other verbal blowjobs as they congratulated themselves on her capture and subsequent heeling. They were talking about testing her under fire.

She was going to go kill someone for them, whoopty… Wait, what?! Hell no, anyone these people they would want to kill most certainly would not be someone she wanted dead.

She tried to fight her body turning, and walking, and loading itself up on to the shuttle transport. Hell, she tried to fight breathing at this point.

It looked like she had little choice in the matter.

* * *

Aeryn's tracking chip indicated that she was on the move, away from the planet and in to orbit. Garrus had been planning their assault for an hour now and it seemed all the effort was wasted.

He watched as the shuttle apparently stopped at a space station in orbit of one of the planet's moons.

Well, at least there wouldn't be that much of a deviation. It's not like they knew the layout of the first base anyways.

Tali had been requesting Garrus' presence for hours now and he finally told EDI that unless Tali was dying, he didn't want to hear from her.

According to in omni message he got from John, he was having similar issues.

Garrus couldn't get past the fact that he had slept with the woman, cared for the woman - who then ultimately tried to kill Aeryn and remove her from his life.

It was a betrayal that rocked him just as hard as Sidonis' had. If Aeryn ended up dead, he wasn't certain he wouldn't go through killing to extract his revenge this time. He doubted Shepard would really intervene this time either.

The more he thought about it, the more it made sense, in a sick way. Tali was always comparing herself to Aeryn, always saying how much better it was now that he had a dextro girlfriend. Not that something like that had ever mattered to him.

EDI chimed that they were drawing close to the space station and Garrus donned his armor and went down to the cargo bay to meet John and the team. They were heading out with more than their normal three-man crew this time, they wanted as much firepower as possible.

* * *

Aeryn watched quietly behind her black helmet. She was dressed head to toe in black armor and it was absolutely suffocating. They were waiting in a bay aboard a space station. The bay was huge and seemed to be set up like an arena.

Maybe she wasn't going to have to kill anyone she cared about! Hell, if it was just going to be some krogan and vorcha, she was OK with that. They would have signed up for the fight at least and she always took consolation in that.

The opposing door opened to silhouette five aggressors. Her helmet was already relaying information to the nanites and thus to the scientists on the five's stats.

Two humans, an asari, a turian, and a… Prothean… Fuck. It was John and his team!

She tried to scream, but her mouth was clamped shut. Not even a sound reverberated through her throat as the nanites strictly controlled her breathing.

She found herself moving forward, aggressively sizing up her brother's team. She was silently wishing, and not for the first time, that her brother was all that the vids made him out to be and that he could end her without many casualties to his team.

She knew she would be wrong, but hope still won out.

* * *

John's team saw the all black figure move aggressively towards them and he checked his tracker. Aeryn was deeper within the space station and that meant that this was just a security measure.

He instructed his team to fan out behind cover and simultaneously work to take the phantom-like person down.

She nimbly moved to avoid taking hits and her biotics flared off the charts. Garrus had said a few minutes in to the fight that her reflexes were too good and John had to admit he was thinking the same.

She moved like Eva had on Mars. She couldn't be natural.

It wasn't until she was directly on top of him that he allowed himself to think that maybe she was too good.

She was knocking crates out of her way and pushing him deeper and deeper in to a corner.

He saw Liara and Garrus get knocked out by a biotically thrown crate and James and Javik were pinned behind a wall of debris from a collapsed storage frame.

He was on his own and this was not a fight he thought he could win.

The woman back handed him across the remaining ground as she stalked closer and before he could regain his full awareness she was hoisting him up by his neck and holding him in the air.

God, this was so much like Eva had handled Kaiden on Mars. He didn't like his chances.

She seemed to pause and her free hand seemed stuck in mid punch. She was going for his head.

Not taking any more time than he already had, John quickly activated his omniblade and jabbed it in to the woman's gut.

She didn't as much flinch as dive away. There was no pain response, but her blood was red. Not a robot after all.

Garrus and Liara were coming to and Javik and James were already sprinting across the open area. John was having trouble breathing due to what he suspected was a bruised airway and James and Javik were already propping him up on their shoulders to drag him away.

They just needed to regroup, then they could…

Before John could finish his thought, a voice came over a loudspeaker above.

"Ahh yes, Johnathan Shepard, I am not surprised to find you here. After your sister, am I correct? Yes, your tracking device was most clever and had I not been a more careful individual I might have missed it. As it was, you gave me a perfect opportunity to test out my newest project – I call her Alpha. Alpha dear, take off your helmet."  
To John and Garrus' immediate horror, the woman standing on the opposite bay, surrounded by mercs and a man and woman in lab coats, the woman John had just gored on his blade, removed her helmet.

Her eyes were black and blood was dripping from her nose and the corner of her lip. She was bleeding profusely from the wound in her stomach, but she seemed not to react to any of it. She just stood there, stock still.

John went to move towards his sister, her hair in a disheveled bun, falling over her face. She didn't even react as he fell to the ground as his legs refused to move properly.

"Ah yes, your baby sister I presume? She has been quite difficult to hold on to, I will admit. Your bond was even strong enough to work past my strongholds on her. Notice the blood dripping from her nose and lip… Internal bleeding from her refusing to cooperate. I will have to tweak my restraints for next time. Thank you again for providing me with the answers I needed, Shepard."

With that the man, his mercs, and Aeryn left through the opposite door and an alarm sounded throughout the facility.

Self-destruct, of course.

John and Garrus were dragged back to their shuttle by James and Javik, Garrus seemed to be just as shocked as John was about the entire situation.

They should have been prepared for something like this, they should have planned for it. Instead they were sent limping on back home, without the one thing they were there for.

The shuttle ride back to the Normandy was a quiet one, each person absorbing the idea that they may have to kill Aeryn instead of rescue her.

John didn't say anything to anyone as he trudged off of the shuttle and made his way back to his cabin.

He even shunned Liara's attempts to comfort him. His baby sister had just attacked him, pretty much won, and he had critically injured her in the process.

* * *

Garrus had a hell of a headache and it wasn't just due to being knocked on his ass by a crate. Aeryn was being used, again.

Garrus had been worried about John as they had watched as the petite woman hoist him up by his neck, and Garrus had noticed how her punch seemed to stop mid throw. He had cheered as John had retaliated by thrusting his blade in to her stomach and then he had been horrified to learn that the woman in question was Aeryn.

He watched now as John went to his cabin without saying a word to anyone. He was probably coming to the same conclusion as Garrus was… Had the same questions rolling around in his head.

How were they going to save her now? Control of this magnitude was practically unheard of. Her eyes were black, but what did that even mean?

Garrus found himself spiraling down the same pit of depression that he suspected John was going down.

How was he going to save her now?

Following John's example, Garrus moved to the elevator to go in to his cabin and to think things over in private, preferably over a strong drink.

* * *

Liara was almost tempted to run after John and make him talk to her. She couldn't imagine what he was feeling right now over their newest discovery.

She had a thought, however. Something that had passed over her desk months ago.

She rushed to her office, now located in the observation room since she needed more space. She dug through her files and had glyph searching through old records.

Something about nanotechnology and its ability to control muscle movements.

She had read about a research firm working to repair damaged tissue using this instead of replacing the damaged limb with synthetics.

Liara poured over her messages and work for hours until she finally found the research paper she was seeking.

Written by a Doctor Amelia Ephrat. Liara looked at the image of the female human for a good twenty minutes before realizing that she was there during the fight. She was the female scientist standing next to Aeryn.

Liara quickly ran from her office and took the elevator to John's cabin.

* * *

John wasn't really ready for visitors, even when Liara hacked her way through his locked door. In hindsight, it was a worthless proposition to bother locking his door.

He was sitting on his bed and holding a holoimage of him and Aeryn when they were younger. She was smiling and had freckles on her cheeks. She still had the freckles, they were just less pronounced as they had been when they were younger.

He barely looked up as Liara rushed to his side.

She didn't seem to be upset like he was. Unusual when it was something so close to his heart that was wrong. He looked up at his asari with confusion. She was… Excited?

"John, I think I figured out what happened to Aeryn."

He was confused by her words, what did it really matter _what_ exactly had happened? The confidence, or was it arrogance? Of the doctor had certainly lead John to feel less than hopeful.

"And what does it matter Liara? She's gone to us… I am probably going to have to kill her…"

His voice dropped off as he dropped his head, but she still stood there thrumming with enthusiasm.

"No, you probably won't! Sure, we may have to injure or hurt her a bit to get control of her, but if my research is correct than what they did is completely reversible! John, we still have a chance to save her."

John's head snapped up and he looked hard at Liara. It wasn't often that he doubted her, but his emotions were much too raw and close to the surface this time.

He stared hard at her and she returned the look equally as a hard. Finally he set the picture of him and Aeryn down and he stood.

"Alright, show me what you've got."

* * *

EDI overheard the entire conversation, well… She overheard every conversation nowadays. Either way, she felt that Liara's research was sound… But she didn't like the idea of John being even more unsettled than he was now.

Having to hurt Aeryn, even if it was to save her would unsettle him more.

EDI quickly mastered the information on the research project that Liara was studying and began to devise her own plans on how to assist with the reacquisition of Aeryn Shepard.


	14. Chapter 14

**New chapter is up! As always, please review - it's my candy :). A huge thank you to icyfreezerpop for getting through the edits on this one so quickly! 3 her like whoa!**

* * *

The entire ship was in a state of shock. Shepard had informed the rest of the crew about why there was a communications blackout. He also gave a simplified version of the events over the past few weeks.

John was lucky that his crew was just that: his crew. While some were understandably upset over being left in the dark, they all understood the Captain's desire for secrecy in regards to the situation.

What really shocked and appalled the crew was learning that Tali'Zorah vas Normandy had been the one to betray not only Aeryn, but Shepard as well.

The overall feeling was one of anger, betrayal and sadness. Tali had been well-liked amongst the crew and to learn that she could do this to their leader was an ill-sitting revelation.

Much of the crew could even understand the situation from Tali's angle. She and Garrus were dating when Aeryn resurfaced and it was hard to watch someone you loved leave. But even though the crew was used to seeing Tali and Garrus as a couple it didn't mean they liked it or were comfortable with it.

Too many who had witnessed the relationship from an outsiders' perspective could tell that Garrus' heart wasn't in the relationship, but he was giving it a good go. Donnely and Daniels had commented a few times that he seemed to be simply going through the motions.

However, while the idea of Tali and Garrus as a couple was unsettling to many at first, they had grown to be the second most recognizable couple on the Normandy.

During Aeryn's time on the Normandy much of the crew had grown accustomed to her and Garrus being a couple. A good couple. Almost the couple as they were more public with their romance than Shepard and Liara had been.

Tali's actions had not won her any sympathy.

* * *

No one had visited her.

She had been pestering EDI for hours trying to get some sort of access to something, anything.

She had threatened war with the quarians because she was being treated as a criminal. She knew it was a bluff, but she was desperate.

Garrus had said she was dead to him, but that couldn't be right. He had to have just been saying that to save face in front of Shepard.

Cortez and Vega had been less than gentle while depositing her in her holding cell and they had almost ripped her envirosuit while removing her omni-tool. She was going to file a complaint – if someone would just answer her damned calls!

Finally a figure appeared in the dark. She initially couldn't make out the shape of the person, but assumed it was Garrus.

Who else would want to visit her?

"Garrus! You came!"

She stood and immediate moved to the protective glass shielding and placed her hands on it.

"Say something!"

Out of the darkness the figure moved in to the light.

Not Garrus. It was James. Tali couldn't help the defeated posture that quickly overtook her. James stood a good foot away from the glass and crossed his arms while silently staring at the prisoner.

Tali started to fidget under his steady gaze and found herself getting irritated. Everyone on this ship was against her!

Sure, she'd tried to get the Captain's sister killed – but she wanted her goddamn turian! He was hers! She had spent her entire life in service of others and she has one, ONE, thing she coveted and she was going to have it!

No one could understand her. She was always expected to be perfect. Once, just once, she wanted to be selfish.

She stepped haughtily over to the bench in her cell and sat down regally. She wouldn't let this human judge her. He was just another Aeryn apologist.

James just stood and stared for a long time before clearing his throat. His tone was no longer kind or filled with humor like Tali had grown accustomed.

"After you're free of this ship know that you will be hunted by all that are friends of the Shepard family. You will have no safe haven in counsel space – nor on Omega. I may have let it leak to the bitch that you had a hand in this. Just a warning, amongst old friends."

He didn't wait to hear her response and simply turned and left. She wondered what all that pompous talk was about. No safe haven? She was an admiral of the quarian flotilla! She could go where she wanted.

Besides, John Shepard wouldn't kill her, even for this.

* * *

It started with a tingle in the back of her head. She wasn't sure she was really feeling it at first.

After a few nights, she found that she could move her fingers as she wanted. She kept that fact to herself and even endured hours of lecture, poking and prodding from the scientists.

All the while she twitched her finger. It was silly to be so excited over such a little thing, but every victory – however small, was still a victory.

Hector, the merc that was like her shadowy stalker, stayed in the room during her sessions. He was outside the door after she was washed and dressed. His room was adjacent to hers.  
She hated his face. It wasn't a particularly bad face, but she was so tired of looking at it that she felt like carving his skin off with a butter knife.

She felt her lip twitch at the thought and quickly corrected herself. If the nanites were wearing out she didn't want to give any indication of it to the scientists.

Aeryn caught Hector staring at her, not that it was an unusual occurrence the way he was staring at her was abnormal.

Had he seen her lip twitch? Was he going to point out her lip twitch to the scientists?!

Panic quickly overcame her and in her movement-restricted predicament, her insides heaved in response.

She was careful not to allow any sort of sign pass that she was regaining marginal control of herself throughout the duration of the sessions.

She obediently moved to her sleeping quarters and laid down. She spent all of her alone time simply lying down since that is where the nanites were programed for her to be. She was like a goddamn video character – moved around the playable area until the player got tired and put them to "sleep" until they were ready to play again.

Mainly because the only time the nanites did something she wanted was when she had to go to the bathroom. Only. Freaking. Time.

Out of the corner of her eye, Aeryn caught the movement of something in the shadows. She was as helpless as a baby as she lay there on the bed, unable to move except to twitch her lips and fingers.

The tingling was getting stronger but she still didn't have any real functionality over herself.

The figure moved to tower above her and even in her dilapidated state she could tell that it was Hector.

He leaned over her, placing a hand above her head and the other on her stomach.

Thank god she was clothed!

He brought his lips to her cheek and slowly licked down to her neck.

"I saw your lip move in there… You have some control… Too bad it won't be enough to save you."  
He dipped his hand on her lower, caressing her thigh. She wanted to puke.

She felt the tingling feeling heighten and it quickly turned into a soft buzzing. She was about to attempt a swing at Hector before the door opened again, alerting the two of them to an additional visitor.

Dr. Tolorin. The doctor looked none-to-pleased with the situation he found his project and her jailor in and quickly announced his displeasure.

"Mr. Morison, I have provided you with access to the asari and human whores you requested, I even found a turian whore for you to partake in. If I ever see you touching Project Alpha in such a manner again, without permission, I promise you that I will allow her to tear you limb from limb. Are we clear?"

Hector left her side with a grunt and grumble, letting his hand slide up her crotch before he moved away. He winked at her and simply walked out.

Dr. Tolorin didn't say anything else either before turning and leaving. She caught the lock on her door chime from green to red – at least he locked her in and others out.

Aeryn felt tears burning her eyes and eventually the tears dropped down her cheeks. She felt dirty and all he did was touch and insinuate.

She wanted to go home, to the Normandy.

The next day was a solo assignment. She shouldn't have been as pleased about it as she was, but she was away from Hector the Molester. She was a little over-proud of that nickname. She was deflecting with humor, as was her style.

Whoever she was going after was some salarian doctor. A rival to Tolorin. From what she over-heard, the galaxy wasn't losing some great humanitarian here but his work was valuable.

She hoped his assistant was as scientifically gifted.

She let her mind wander as she was let around via remote control towards her target. Apparently whoever was pulling her strings had a good map for the facility because she hadn't needed to really pay attention to shit since she had stepped off the shuttle.

She found her mind wandering to days long past. Towards passion and bed sheets. She let herself be enveloped by memories of her time on the Normandy during the war, to memories of moments and touches both in battle and outside.

A sound permeated her revelries, a simpering whiny noise. She found her focus returning to the world around her. She was holding a salarian by the neck with one hand and holding a pistol to his forehead with the other.

The diagnostic readings flashing across her helmet visor was showing that the salarian was highly distressed… Well she was about to kill him.

A shot and the sound of liquid echoed through the empty office. Ok, she wasn't about to kill him - she just had.

She felt her body start to move back towards the shuttle. She wondered if this is what drell assassins felt like. The body is the weapon of the hirer.

* * *

Garrus was anxious. Liara's plan was good and it had merit, but he was done with false hope and brief moments of happiness. He wanted his damned fiancé back!

Liara said that they had to knock Aeryn unconscious and get her back on the Normandy. Liara had some treatment that involved dialysis and some form of radio wave treatment that was above his head. The gist of it was that it would get the nanites to release from her muscles and move in to her bloodstream so that they could be filtered out.

He just hoped it would work.

He wasn't too keen on the idea of having to knock Aeryn out. Judging from their last encounter, they may accidentally kill her while trying to save her. The force required to knock her out would be massive.

He had found himself pacing his room and holding a set of her dog tags that she had given him before the final push towards the beam in London. He had put them away after her death, when he had decided to move on. Now he found himself clinging to them as a reminder that she was alive.

He had been dreaming about Aeryn non-stop since their last encounter. In every dream she died. In every dream he heard her heart-stopping cry as her ship was attacked.

He wasn't sleeping well.

They were getting close to the base and he had taken to wearing his armor on the ship, just to be ready.

They had switched bases after their first encounter, but EDI had been actively tracking their signal. She had managed to latch on during the last fight and was proactively leading them to Aeryn.

According to EDI, she had a good lead on Aeryn and said that she could guarantee that she would get the ship to their quarry.

He wasn't sure how, but he wasn't about to question it.

The one-hour call came over the com speaker and he made his way down to the shuttle bay. It was time to get Aeryn back.

He steeled himself against what he was probably going to have to do.

* * *

John was surprised to find so much of the crew ready to accompany this mission. Javik was there, uncalled, as was Kaiden, James, Garrus and Liara. He wished he still had Grunt or Wrex on his crew – but they were still busy repopulating the krogan home worlds.

EDI had said that she could not go on this mission due to some hardware maintenance with her portable body.

He didn't ask, EDI wouldn't tip the scales in the physical fight.

They all silently stepped on to the shuttle and sat in silence as they descended to the uninhabitable planet below.

A mass effect field was surrounding the base, allowing the inhabitants to survive despite the fact that the planet was a hot box. Outside the field the air was a solid 600 degrees.

The shuttle seamlessly went through the field.

It was too easy but John was prepared for the ease this time. They were going to bring out their big guns soon enough.

* * *

The shuttle landed and Aeryn stood shoulder to shoulder with Hector and the security team. They had been alerted the moment the Normandy started to orbit the planet.

She was beside herself with stress over this whole thing. She wanted to go back, needed to go back, but she didn't want to hurt any of her family. The Normandy was her family and everyone stepping off of the damned shuttle was someone that even if she didn't get along with them, were her family.

She didn't want to kill any of them.

She felt her breath hitch and it nearly stopped her in her tracks. She was controlling her own breathing? Since when?

The tingling was back, in force. She took an aggressive step forward, her muscles fighting the nanites by trying to hold her stock still while the nanites forced her muscles into submission.

She felt like crying out at the effort it took her to even slow her movement by a half of second, but she couldn't. The slight break in the nanite control wasn't enough, she wasn't stopping herself, and she was going to kill her family!

The tingling was quickly becoming a buzzing sound in her ears as she fought tooth and nail to stop herself.

Finally the buzzing was overriding all the other sounds in the room. At some point during her struggles the security force and Hector had started attacking the Normandy team. She had hardly noticed over the roaring noise taking over her senses.

The abruptly, it stopped. She had stopped.

To prove to herself that she had control, she lifted her hand in front of her face. It moved as she willed.  
She found herself looking around to try and figure out what was going on. Was it a trick?

A curse-filled cry brought her back to the fight. She zeroed in on the source – Kaiden had been hit. Damnit, didn't the man know how to duck!?

Without a second thought she ran into the fray.

The security force and Hector were completely unprepared for the attack from behind and she managed to render them useless within a few minutes.

Hector; she left alive for a while longer.

She stood over him as he groaned and cowed, sliding away from her on the ground, his bullet addled legs unable to hold his weight.

She followed him slowly, never taking off her helmet. She may feel great satisfaction from this – but he didn't need to see it. This was her win, not his. He was merely a tool.

Once he was backed against a wall, she crouched down and ran her hand over his head, parting his hair. He said something, but she wasn't hearing him. This was her moment of revenge.

She gripped his forehead and thrust his skull into the metal wall with one quick, hard movement. She felt the bones crack under the force. This was her revenge.

She let go the moment she heard the last breath leave his body and she abruptly stood. Without a look to John and his crew she moved back down the hall. Back to the science facility.

John yelled something but all she could hear was the blood rushing through her veins. She was in control and there was no way she was going to let Tolorin leave alive.

* * *

John was busy trying to coordinate Kaiden to cover and keep an eye on Aeryn. She had somehow helped them, or Tolorin was cleaning house.

The way she had crushed the one man's skull was definitely not an Aeryn thing to do… Well, unless he had done something to her… John felt himself glaring at the corpse against the wall as he ordered Javik back with Kaiden and instructed his team to follow, at a distance, Aeryn through the facility.

Moving down the hallway, they all heard the screams of terror and pain as she progressed through the facility.

How had she gotten control back!?

He was feeling a bit underutilized.

* * *

Aeryn moved through the facility with calculated precision. She needed to kill Tolorin before he somehow fixed his bugs.

She wasn't even paying attention to the people she was killing, they all worked for him. No one was innocent here. Anyone who allowed this kind of depraved insanity to commence was not worthy of life.

She was feeling fairly fatalistic at this point.

She managed to get to the inner offices and the alarms blaring told her that Tolorin was aware that his pet had gotten lose.

She quickly assessed the situation. No way through the door. No other doors… Ventilation. Always the weakness.

She moved to an adjacent room and made quick work of the ventilation grate. She was going to kill this man even if she died in the process.

* * *

John had lost a visual on Aeryn. She was headed in to the center of the facility with a purpose he had never seen from her before.

They came to a hallway that branched in three directions, each ending at a door. The door in front had been permanently shut, the welds around the frame a dead giveaway.

She didn't go through there.

If this door was sealed like that, then this was more than likely the one Aeryn was going to. But how? He doubted that she was in there when it was sealed. Sealing a door like that would've taken some time and she wasn't through here even five minutes prior.

No, she would have gone another route.

He did not possess her skill at infiltration and decided his direct and loud approached was better.

He and his team placed chargers around the door to blow it. He just hoped no one important was close to the door when he set the detonator.

Well, anyone but Aeryn could be in front of it. Heck, it might knock her out and they could get her on the Normandy!

He and the remainder of his team moved to cover and he activated the detonator.

* * *

Aeryn didn't even flinch when the door went shooting across the room. She was currently choking Tolorin. She had read somewhere that choking was the most personal way to kill someone. This was a personal kill so it seemed an appropriate method.

Tolorin's face was quickly turning purple and she could feel his strength wan. He was gesticulating towards whoever had stepped through the door. Whoever? She knew who it was! It was her brother and his team.

She felt Tolorin's windpipe collapse and heard him gargle under her hands as blood started to pour down his throat.

She watched the life leave his bloodshot eyes before she dropped him to the ground, her breath coming in and out of her body in heaves.

She hadn't found the assistant yet, but a movement behind the desk caught her attention. John had moved closer to her, but she was a hunter zeroed in on her prey.

Behind the desk she found the little assistant aggressively working over a portable computer.

She was recalibrating… Aeryn. Damnit, the bitch was the string puller! Without thinking it through, Aeryn stomped on the computer.

The moment the computer died was the moment her body went tense then immediately limp. Her world went dark.

* * *

John was about to try and reign Aeryn in when she stomped on something behind the desk. Garrus cried out as Aeryn collapsed like a rag doll, rushing to her side. John was quick on Garrus' heels as was the rest of the team.

Behind the desk was a woman, clearly surprised to see John and a very worried turian.

Garrus was yelling at the woman, asking what happened. She mentioned something about activating a fail-safe and turning Aeryn "off".

Liara stepped in, suggesting that they take the woman and Aeryn back to the Normandy before any reinforcements showed up.

John grabbed the woman, recognizing her as being the other scientist in the warehouse during their first encounter with "project alpha". She could be useful in restoring Aeryn to her old self, if she wasn't already dead.

He passed the woman off to James and signaled for the team to move out, moving over to Garrus who was now cradling Aeryn to his body. He looked reverent and almost broken- it moved John.

He softly placed his hand on Garrus' shoulder to get his attention.

"Is she alive?"

God that was such a horrible question to have to ask! He wanted to throw up the moment the words left his lips.

Garrus nodded harshly and stood, still cradling her carefully.

"Yes, she seems to just be asleep... But there's blood coming from her nose and ears."

John wasn't a medical professional, but he knew that blood coming from the ears was not a good sign.

He and Garrus made eye contact and nodded in unison. Sometimes words were not needed and they needed to get Aeryn into the med bay as soon as possible.

* * *

Liara and Chakwas had been working diligently over Aeryn for three days. Aeryn hadn't shown any signs of waking up.

The captured doctor, Doctor Ephrat, had been invaluable in getting the nanites out of Aeryn's body. She had altered them from her original design so that they could be applied quickly; an unintended side effect of that was that they could be removed as quickly.

It still required a complete scrub of Aeryn's blood and that required time.

The coma that Aeryn found herself in was more of a mystery. Even Dr. Ephrat couldn't really explain it. The nanites were programed to put Aeryn to sleep should a certain signal be given out and Ephrat had been trying to send the signal prior to Aeryn's appearance in the office, unsuccessfully.

It wasn't until Aeryn had stomped on the computer that the signal had gone through and that was relatively unexplainable.

She said that based on Aeryn's brainwave patterns that she should awake "when she's ready".

Liara thought it seemed kind of like bullshit, but she had no other ideas. Chakwas seemed to buy the explanation as well.

Aeryn was lying in the med bay, hooked up to monitoring machines, but she was breathing on her own.

Garrus had set up an ever-present vigil next to Aeryn and Liara, while thinking it was sweet, was getting tired of his constant questions over the poking and prodding of the one he was protecting.

Liara had given up for the evening and was going to meet with John to discuss what to do with their two prisoners.

Liara had to admit that she kind of liked his plan to simply drop them off on Omega and let Aria try and exact her own revenge. Darius was apparently itching to get a hand on either woman as well… Though it didn't seem exactly moralistic. Not that Liara found herself particularly moral these days, she did feel that, for Tali at least, some morality was necessary.

Dr. Ephrat was on her own, however.

Liara got to John's cabin only to find it empty. Well this was an unusual occurrence, he had messages waiting on his terminal!

"EDI, where is John?"

She might as well save herself the search and waited while the AI scanned the ship.

"It appears that Shepard, Vega, Cortez and Joker are in the war room discussing what to do with Ms. Zorah and Ms. Ephrat."

Liara was not about to miss out on participating in this conversation!

She rushed out of the cabin and back to the elevator.

* * *

These decisions were giving John a headache. He had told the Admiralty Board that he was going to be dropping Tali off on a planetary colony near Omega and they were planning on picking her up from there – with apologies for what she had done.

Well he wasn't feeling very pragmatic about the situation so their apologies felt hollow. He wasn't sure if he hoped they got there before Aria's people or not.

Dr. Ephrat was a different can of worms. He had called Hackett on that decision. They were going to hand her over to an Alliance prison transport. It seemed too good for her, but she did help get the nanites out of Aeryn – not that she had much of a choice.

Liara entered just as John was explaining to James and Cortez about the transfers.

"I want to make especially sure that Tali has no access to ship systems, even after she's off of the ship. We will not be returning her omni-tool, she can find a new one."

Liara nodded as she sat next to him, apparently pleased that they were not executing the quarian themselves.

"Dr. Ephrat is another situation. She is going to be with us while we jump to the Armstrong Nebula and meet a transport in the Vamshi system. There we will transfer her to Alliance control and they will… Do whatever they do with criminals of these types."

Both James and Cortez voiced their dissatisfaction with this plan, it didn't seem like justice to them. She would probably be given a pardon due to her scientific abilities.

John couldn't argue against their feelings, as they mimicked his own.

"I know, I know, but there's nothing we can really do about it. We are an Alliance vessel and subject to Alliance regulations. James, as you transfer her over, make sure to inform her that she is marked by us, 'case she gets free. I won't give her a second chance should she get the opportunity."

That seemed to placate them enough that they agreed. After the logistics were hashed out, he dismissed the meeting and found himself leaning in to Liara.

"I have my sister back, but I feel like I'm still fighting for her… Has she woken up yet?"

Liara shook her head, running her fingers through his hair.

"No, no changes, but Chakwas doesn't seem concerned. She said that there are signs that when the nanites put her to sleep that it was via an abrupt electrical shock. She said that it isn't uncommon for someone receiving a shock like that to be in a coma for a few days while their body 'resets'."

John nodded and kissed Liara's cheek. He was getting too old for this.

Taking her hand, he led her out of the war room and back up to their cabin.

* * *

Garrus had fallen asleep next to Aeryn's bed, his head resting on her mattress. He was still holding her hand.

In such a position it was difficult to actually fall fully in to sleep. The chairs were big, but made for their frames which were considerably smaller and compact. He was aware of the beep of the machines and the hum of the ship.

He realized he must be in a half dream, because he felt five fingers brushing over his forehead, fringe and cowl.

It was such a soothing movement that he felt himself relax more than he had in what felt like months.

Eventually the hand stopped and he found himself waking from the lack of contact. It took him a moment to realize that Aeryn was looking at him, a soft amused smile moving her lips.

He wanted to speak, but not for the first time in her presence he found himself speechless. Instead he pulled her into his lap and just held her. Her arms wrapped around his neck as she held him right back.

His heart finally felt like it could beat in a normal rhythm again.


	15. Chapter 15

**Alrighty folks, this is it! Hope you enjoyed the story and a huge, marvelous thank you to icyfreezerpop for beta'ing my story :) **

**Little bit of a smut warning for this one, gotta wrap up those feels!**

* * *

Garrus held Aeryn for what felt like hours. He quickly became unaware of anything else other than the woman currently in his arms.

He had come so close to losing her – again.

He doubted he would ever be able to forget the way she collapsed like a rag doll and how dead she looked when he went to her.

Now she was alive, breathing and in his arms. She felt cool to the touch, as many humans do to turians, but it was a welcome chill. He suddenly found himself touching her, anywhere and everywhere. They were together and he would be damned before he let her leave his sight again.

* * *

Aeryn had been content to just be held by Garrus and to hold him back up until he started allowing his hands to roam over her. At first she felt horrifyingly paralyzed as she remembered Hector touching her, but she quickly registered the inhuman heat flowing from the hands and her horror turned to a desperate need to be as close to him as possible.

She was lucky it was the night cycle on the ship because she hadn't even bothered to shutter the med bay windows before she was moving to straddle Garrus' lap.

Her lips were roaming over his face, neck, carapace, anywhere she could reach without leaving his lap. She ran her tongue over the small bite mark she had left ages ago and solicited a growl from her lover.

Her hands were already working to remove the shirt of his casual wear. Her finger tips skimming over the soft spots in between his plating as she slid it up and over his head. She found that her medical gown was the perfect thing to be wearing at that very moment.

He made quick work of the gown and she caught him staring in horror over the multiple spots of discoloration over her skin. He ran his hand over a particularly bad spot on her waist.

"Chakwas said that it was due to the nanites being imbedded in your muscles… When they dislodged they caused some internal bruising," he quietly informed, as she had been unconscious the last time Chakwas had been in the room.

She softly covered his hand with her own and brought his fingertips to her lips, kissing and biting.

She didn't give a rats' ass if she looked like a bloody Dalmatian, she wasn't going to let that stop her. She had a lot of time to think while she was the living puppet and she realized that she was wasting time trying to "reconnect" with Garrus.

They were always connected. She would always be his and he would always be hers.

He kept a steady rumble as she unlatched his trousers and pushed them down just enough – his plates had already parted and he was as ready as she was. She watched in momentary fascination as his hips moved in a seemingly involuntary fashion.

She smiled and licked her lips as she brought her gaze back up and made eye contact with him.

* * *

Garrus was almost out of his mind with desire. She was taking her time and after the tongue bath she just gave his neck he was about ready to pick her up and cover her on the medical bed. As it was, she was licking her lips and eyeing his manhood with a distinct look of want.

She finally moved forward and slowly impaled herself upon him and it was one of the single greatest feelings in his life.

He loved being inside her, he loved feeling her in his arms as they made love to one another.

For what felt like hours they moved rhythmically together, moving as one to the slow build of completion. Just as Garrus was about to kick it up a notch, Aeryn beat him to the punch. She buried her face in the crook of his neck and bit down, hard, on her fading mark.

All sense left him as he roared in pleasure as the pain registered what she was doing. She was marking him again!

He slammed her down on the bed and slammed in to her repeatedly, his control completely broken. He heard her cried of pleasure and felt her body arch under him as he gripped her waist tightly. He held her hips still as he drove himself home again and again. Just as he felt her muscles grip him in exquisite tightness he, too, bit down on his old mark and claimed her again for his own.

He heard her cry and felt her muscles turn in to a vice grip on his appendage, causing him to join in her orgasm.

He held himself over her, trying not to smother her with his weight, as he looked down at her sweat sheened face. He made eye contact and touched his forehead to hers, their breath mixing as they just stared at one another.

"Next week, we are going to be married next week. I am not going to make the mistake of waiting again."

He felt awkward as he realized he sounded like he was ordering her to marry him, but he was instantly reassured as she wrapped her arms around his neck and nodded vigorously. His heart swelled and he sat back down in the chair, pulling her with him. She was still straddling his waist as she settled herself on his lap, resting her head on his cowl.

She was quickly asleep and he wondered if maybe he should move her back in to the bed. He realized, now that he was thinking properly, that this was probably too much too soon for her after such an ordeal; but he couldn't bring himself to regret it.

He would just have to take care of her if she hurt when she woke up.

He gingerly moved her back in to the medical bed and sighed when he realized it was too small for him to join her. He knew from personal experience that these beds were like sleeping on child's beds to someone of his size.

He contented himself with sitting next to her and resting his gaze on her as she slept, a small smile plastered on her lips.

He let himself think of their future long in to the night, he would have to inform his dad and Solana that he was going to be married. Both would be thrilled and he could just hear the speech from his father over finally roping Aeryn into marriage.

He had sent both his dad and Solana a message explaining everything shortly after getting Aeryn back on to the ship. They needed to know what was going on in his life and now that he was certain Aeryn was safe he sent the message detailing where she had been and that she was back.

They were both happy for him and his dad was already asking about dates for the marriage.

It was telling to Garrus that neither his dad nor Solana had asked about Tali. The fact that they didn't seem upset about Tali's dismissal wasn't really all of that much of a surprise, his dad had adored Aeryn the one chance they got to meet on the Citadel before it was captured and apparently his dad had inspired the same type of adoration in his sister.

His sister had been the only one to meet Tali, and it had been on accident. Tali had acted jealous until she realized that Solana was Garrus' sister and then she had changed her attitude to pleasant – but the damage had already been done in Solana's eyes.

Tali never really had a fair chance. Had Tali not tried to off Aeryn, he may have felt more pity for her, as it was all he could muster up was some understanding and a quelling of his desire to have her killed. He never wanted to see her again, but he didn't wish her dead.

It was the most he could do, he was feeling more generous than usual with his bondmate back in his arms.

* * *

Aeryn woke the next morning in absolute excruciating pain. Her muscles were apparently revolting after being used so thoroughly the previous night.

Chakwas, as it turned out, had a vicious streak. The old medic had the good graces not to scold the woman, but she certainly didn't make her any more comfortable than she had to.

Aeryn was really too happy to complain, however. Garrus had left to get some breakfast and had come back with John and Liara in tow. After exchanging pleasantries and hugs, the debriefing started.

John had asked how she had managed to break free of the control measures and Aeryn answered honestly.

"I have no idea, really. I started to feel a tingling at the back of my neck and as it got more prominent I found that I could exert control over parts of my body. At first it was just fingers and facial movements, but when you all were there I was able to gain full control. I don't really know how."

Liara looked puzzled and John just looked confused, bioengineering and mechanics weren't really his strong suit and bless him if he didn't try to understand.

Not leaving them hanging in confusion for long, EDI spoke up.

"I was able to deactivate the nanites via remote signal, Shepard…"

They all just stared at the ceiling, a common occurrence when EDI's physical manifestation was not present. Liara was the first to break the awkwardly confused silence.

"EDI, how did you know to do that? Where did you even begin to create such a signal?"

EDI paused for a moment, probably trying to dumb down her explanation for the two humans and the turian in the room, none of which were even remotely aware of the nanites developmental process nor how they were controlled.

"I analyzed the signal that was present during the first encounter with Aeryn after her re-abduction. Combined with Dr. Ephrat's notes on her experiments, I was able to discern the appropriate signal pattern, pitch and range to take control of the nanites. It took a few tries, as Aeryn stated the control didn't come all at once. I found it much easier to control the nanites when we were in closer proximity to Aeryn."

For a moment the entire room was simply speechless. They had not considered that EDI had the capability to do such a thing, let alone that she would take it upon herself to do this. Aeryn felt that she shouldn't be so surprised by the AI anymore. After all, ever since EDI had started a relationship with a human, revolted against Cerberus, and the multitude of other tales of the AI's exploits, she really wouldn't be surprised if the AI ended up telepathic after all of her soul-searching and self-tweaking.

"Thank you EDI, I owe you my life." Aeryn said truthfully. She owed everyone on the ship her life – well, everyone except for Tali, but Aeryn was already thinking of the quarian as being off of the ship.

Now that the big mystery of Aeryn's escape was exposed, John felt it was the perfect time to bring the attention back on to the future.

He clapped his hands together, bringing everyone's attention back on to him and then blurted out, "So I hear we get to plan a wedding! Really Aeryn, a week? Liara will be beside herself with to-do lists!"

Aeryn groaned, John was going to have too much fun planning a wedding and she could guarantee that she would be lucky if she didn't have to wear something resembling a walking snow-beast in taffeta.

* * *

Tali had heard through the grapevine, also known as people talking loudly in front of her cell, that the rescue mission for Aeryn was a success… and that Garrus and her were going to be married within the next week.

She was beside herself most days since, choosing to lay in the corner of her cell and simply cry away the day.

She had lost.

Shepard had come down and said something about releasing her near a colony in the Omega Nebula. A representative of the flotilla was going to pick her up.

She couldn't bring herself to care. That was, until the day before she was going to be dropped off.

She realized that she hadn't lost yet, she could still win this… She just needed to hijack a ship, maybe convince the representative to allow her use of their ship.

Hell, she was still an Admiral! She would demand use. Then she would overtake the Normandy and demand that Garrus surrender to her. She could convince him! She would convince him.

* * *

John sighed as he prepped the away team set for escorting Tali off of the Normandy. He felt like he should feel worried for her, dropping her off on a planet so close to Omega, but he didn't. He just felt tired.

This whole ordeal was tiring. Having someone you trusted so deeply betray you so completely was not something John enjoyed feeling.

Garrus had, surprisingly, agreed to be on the team. John didn't ask why, but thought he knew. Garrus was trying to show Tali that she no longer meant anything to him. A bit of closure, if you will.

Tali walked off the shuttle, surrounded by James, Garrus, Javik and Kaiden all lead by John to the agreed upon drop point.

Even though the planet had a spaceport, John elected to have Tali completely off the ship before they left her on her own.

They checked in with ground control and John moved to leave. He was halted by a snide remark from their detainee.

"No goodbyes?"

John and Garrus both tensed, tempted to do more than speak, but seemed to simultaneously realize that more attention to her wouldn't grant them the peace and quiet from her that they both desperately desired.

They all simply just turned and walked back to the shuttle, leaving the quarian alone and abandoned on the unfamiliar planet.

None of them regretted the ending of their ties to Ms. Tali'Zorah Vas Rannoch.

* * *

To say that Tali was peeved that none of them said goodbye to her would be an understatement. Years of loyalty and of putting her life on the line and this is the thanks she gets?

She was going to make them pay one day.

She just needed to get back to the flotilla.

She turned and started to walk to the coordinates that had been given to her before she was dropped on this pathetic excuse for a colony. They had been gracious enough to give her a geo-tracker so that she could at least see what coordinates she was at, but the assholes kept her omni-tool.

She found herself walking through the dingy human colony on her way outside of the city's vicinity. Classic quarian, even after reclaiming their home planet and gaining respect in the galactic community, they still liked to pick up their strays outside of regular colonies.

Tali had turned down an alley before she realized that she was not alone, and that she had taken a wrong turn.

She turned to find a way around from the cul-de-sac of buildings when she bumped in to her stalker.

She looked up at a turian with skull-like colony markings encrusted on his face. Well that was certainly ominous.

"Can I help you?" She asked regally, not really caring if she seemed rude or not.

The turian smiled at her. "Yes, I believe you can, Tali'Zorah."

He didn't even flinch before raising his pistol to her face mask and pulling the trigger.

You don't fuck with Aria and those she claims as hers.

* * *

The crew of the Normandy got word of Tali's death a few weeks later, a week after Garrus and Aeryn had been married.

The flotilla had cleared the Normandy's crew of wrongdoing before they had elected to inform John, out of respect. It had been verified that the ship had left the planet's orbit long before Tali had been assassinated.

The flotilla had asked if they had leads, and though John had an idea as to who ordered Tali's death, he didn't voice it.

The wedding had been splendid, despite Aeryn's constant complaints that everything was too grandiose. It wasn't every day that his sister got married and certainly not to his best friend.

Garrus' father had helped plan the wedding from afar and they had managed to sync up their plans perfectly for a meeting on the citadel.

It was a huge affair and truthfully John was sure that some of the guests hadn't been invited, but no one cared. It was an open bar and a huge party. The bride and groom deserved it.

John couldn't have been happier for his sister. She and her groom were constantly caught just staring at one another and had even been lost for an hour before emerging looking more disheveled than they had been prior to going missing.

The ceremony itself was a gorgeous mix of human and turian tradition and John was more than relieved to find out that the two ceremonies were remarkably similar; however, he was disappointed that Aeryn's face didn't have to be painted to match Garrus'.

Ah well, you can't win them all.

* * *

Garrus woke to find himself alone in the bed. The sounds of animals were overwhelming for being so early in the morning. Birds and monkeys? Aeryn had called them.

They finally made it to her secluded spot, a rainforest overlooking a vast ocean. They were in a cabin on a beach, and were far away from any other civilization.

Their rations were flown in once a week, and they had been there for a week already.

He loved this place of hers, and he found himself more content with life than he remembered ever being.

He eventually moved himself out of bed and went to find his wife.

* * *

Aeryn was standing in the early morning sun with her feet in the surf and her face raised skyward. She had closed her eyes to avoid being blinded and just basked in the rightness of the past few weeks.

She and Garrus were married, she was Mrs. Vakarian now, and were finally on a vacation.

She felt strong arms wrap around her waist from behind and she leaned against the strong chest she knew would be there.

He would always be there for her as he always had been.


End file.
